My First Star Fox Encounter
by Gamer-fox91
Summary: An incredible adventure begins for me when a familiar blue vixen crash-lands in my garage. After introducing her to my family and galaxy, she invites me to join the Star Fox team. Could I risk leaving all my memories behind? Please read and review.
1. Chapter 1

My First Star Fox Encounter

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Fox, any of its characters or anything else I might reference in this story, but I hope you love it.

"Come on, Michael. I thought you said you were better than me.", my older brother Edwin joked as he activated his Star Power and started running his fingers over the fret buttons of my new Guitar Hero 5 controller like there was no tomorrow.

"I _AM_ better than you, I'm just not used to playing on these kinds of difficulties!" , I yelled back as I, too, activated my Star Power and strummed like my fingers were on fire. My name's Michael Angelo Pena, by the way.

"That's the best you got? Ha, that proves it! I'm better than you and I always will be.", Edwin said with a laugh. By the time we finished our pro face-off of playing 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' by Nirvana on hard difficulty, my fingers were sore and reddish-pink in color. In case you've noticed by now, my brother and me get _REALLY_ competitive over video games- Xbox 360 games in particular. I breathed a sigh of disappointment as I walked out of my bedroom to lay down on my living room couch and began playing Star Fox Command on my Nintendo DS Lite. Games always make me feel better when I need to pass the time or get rid of some stress. As I was playing on the Venom stage- Good-Bye, Fox, I began to dream about meeting them in person one day and having an adventure of my very own to brag about. Little did I know what was in store for me later that day...

_Somewhere in the Lylat System..._ The Star Fox team had just finished their job of escorting a large shipment of medical supplies to a local hospital several light years away and the only way to get there and back was through a hyperspace jump from the Arwings. This kind of job was very tricky because if anything went wrong, the mission would be that much closer to failing, but the riskier the mission, the bigger the paycheck for Fox and his teammates. "Ok, that's the last of them. We just need to get our check, then we can head back to Corneria.", Fox said as he placed a large box of fresh Blood Packs, needles and surgical tubes next to a large row of hospital beds.

"Finally, we can get out of here. I don't like hospitals that much because of the awful noise and even worse food.", Falco said as he shuddered at the thought of getting sick in a place like this.

"You know, if we didn't accept this job in the first place, all of these people here wouldn't even have one chance of living, don't you?", Krystal scolded. Falco simply shrugged his shoulders in a 'I don't know' kind of way.

"Hey, cut the chat, guys. Peppy says we're needed back at the Great Fox immediately for our next mission.", Slippy said over the communicators on each of his friends' left wrists.

"Copy that. Fox out. Let's head back, everyone.", Fox said as he received the check from a male rabbit and shook his hand.

"Thank you. Without your help, none of our patients would've lasted the next 2 hours."

"It's no problem at all, Dr. Louis. No one on the team ever turns a blind eye to anyone in trouble."

"Thanks again, if you ever need some supplies, you're more than welcome to come back."

"We'll remember that. Take good care.", Fox said as he waved good-bye. And with that, the team started up their Arwings and entered their jump location coordinates into the computer screens in front of them. Krystal had just entered her coordinates and locked them in, when a warning alarm went off.

"Uh-oh, guys. I'm in trouble here!", she cried as she opened up the channels to her friends' communicators.

"Krystal, what's wrong?", Fox asked.

"I think I made a typing error for the coordinates and now I think I'm going someplace else, instead!"

"Can you override the launch codes?", Falco asked.

"It's too late for me! The codes are already locked in!", Krystal said with a tone of alarm. A look of fear washed over Fox's face like a sudden hurricane.

"Falco, deploy the grappling cables to the back of Krystal's engine, now!", he cried.

"We can't do that, Fox. If the jump activates, we'll be taking a trip right along with her!", he yelled back.

"We have to take that chance, there's no telling where she's going!"

"Fine. But this was your call, not mine." They both fired the cables at the same time but they missed their mark, so they reeled them back in as fast as their Arwings could go. As Krystal's fear was getting worse, so were her chances of escaping this dilemma. The alarm was flashing faster and the numbers were dropping lower. Then, an automated voice came from the overhead message board said: "Hyperspace jump commencing in five..."

"Fox! Falco! Please hurry!", she screamed. They fired again, but they still missed.

"Four... Three..."

"Fox!"

"Two..."

"Krystal!"

"One..." The countdown ended and _WHOOSH_! A giant circle of blue-white light opened up, sucking Krystal in and immediately closing behind her.

_Back on Earth..._ The day I had went by in its usual way; I'd wake up around 9:00 A.M., watch tv, eat lunch, take my medicine, pace around the house and other things like that. I was currently wearing a black t-shirt with the word vokal written in gray and outlined in white, South Pole blue jeans and a pair of white socks inside my black Tommy Hilfiger hiking shoes. Edwin had just left the house in his usual routine of saying, "I'm better than you!" five minutes ago, when I heard a loud crash outside that could have been heard by anyone within a 2-block radius. I ran outside through the back door and was shocked at what I saw; inside of my family's garage, well, more like the layout of the garage, was an Arwing, but it was slowly becoming set on fire from a knocked over gallon of Gasoline. I knew that's what it was, because I'd spent more than enough time playing the Star Fox games to recognize anything from them. As I carefully made my way towards it, I noticed a familiar-looking Staff lying four feet away from my feet. "It's impossible...", I said to myself, but the proof was right there in front of me. The Staff was none other than Krystal's and upon looking at the canopy, I saw a small hole which the Staff obviously made when the Arwing hit the cement. _"If this Staff is here, then...", _My thoughts were quickly interrupted by a woman's voice.

"Help! I'm suffocating and the control panel for my canopy is broken.", she cried. I suddenly realized that this was the REAL Krystal inside there. I was just a finger's reach from grabbing it, when I remembered how it worked in Star Fox Adventures.

_"If I touch this Staff, will it electrocute me and burn my hands the instant I grab it?", _I thought with fearful eyes.

Then I heard Krystal speaking to me in my mind. "Don't worry, you have my permission to use it and it won't harm you as long as you believe in it."

"Okay, if you say so...", I answered, despite still being nervous. Very carefully, I grabbed it and like Krystal said, it didn't harm me. Without any time to celebrate, I ran to the canopy and started to smash the pointed end of the Staff ferociously against the sides of the hole in hopes of making it bigger. After about five smashes, my effort paid off as the glass shattered into small, harmless pieces and I pulled Krystal out of there using all the strength I could muster. When she was safe, I placed her on the bench in front of my house so she could breathe and recover, while I ran into the kitchen and removed the Fire Extinguisher from the wall so I could put out the fire that was about to reach my parents' garage. When it was completely gone, I walked back to Krystal and wondered if she was still okay.

_"Cough..._ I'm fine. _Cough..._ Don't worry, I'll be ok." Upon looking at her body, I noticed a few bloody cuts on her arms that didn't look deep enough to leave scars, but they immediately needed tending to. Since I was all alone, I was the only one there who could help her. I took her by the hand and led her into my parents' bathroom, where I found a First-Aid kit and used all the steps I learned in health class; first, I washed the blood and bacteria away with warm soap and water, then I took a small cotton swab mixed with disinfecting alcohol and dabbed it on the cuts to ease the pain and finally, I took some medical gauze and wrapped two layers around the cuts to stop the bleeding and prevent any further infection from appearing. Krystal was quite marveled at how well my work was and touched both of the bandages without feeling any kind of pain. When she was done admiring my work, I politely asked her to wait inside my house while I gathered some new clothes for a shower. I needed one, since my haircut from yesterday left a bunch of tiny hairs all over my shirt and I was still itching. She agreed and looked around my house in curiosity. Twenty minutes later, I was clean and itch-free. I was now wearing a light/navy blue Nike shirt with a pair of Ecko-Unltd blue jeans and the same shoes and socks from earlier.

"This sure is a nice place you have here. You've done so much to help me and I don't even know your name.", Krystal said while staring at my mother's family pictures.

"My name's Michael Angelo Pena.", I said while smiling in thanks.

"You have two last names?", Krystal asked. I realized that since, Krystal didn't even know about my kind or my galaxy, I decided to explain.

"Not really. You see, I'm part of a species known as humans and it's kind of like tradition for any of us to have a first, middle and last name."

"I see. Very interesting. So, is this your family?", Krystal asked while staring at a large photo of my parents' wedding anniversary. It had me in-between my mother Ana and my father Rodolfo, with my oldest brother Rudy standing at my father's left and my second older brother Edwin standing at my mother's right. I nodded.

"You look so much like the one on the far-right. Why is that?", Krystal asked.

"I'm not quite sure. You see, I've got many different traits from each of them, even though I'm the youngest in my family. I've got my older brother Rudy's looks and height, my brother Edwin's appetite and love of competition, my father's knack for fixing things and being young at heart and finally, I've got my mother's quick temper, taste buds and love of making all kinds of food."

"You don't seem to love your brothers very much, do you, Michael?"

"It's not that I hate them completely, I just can't stand they way they act towards me. This one time, my brother Rudy said I was so lazy, he forced me to come work with him and my father. I didn't even get a single bite to eat, so all that ladder climbing and handing him tools exhausted me. By the time our job was done, I was so hungry, I threw up the water I drank twice. And I told myself I'd never go working with him like that again. And as for Edwin, he and I keep having arguments over who's better than the other. And we usually play games to settle them. Sometimes he wins, and other times it's the other way around, but I still have fun and I'll always believe I'm better than him, no matter how many times I lose."

"Hmm... Interesting. So where am I, anyway?"

"Well, our planet is called Earth. It's a part of what we humans call the Solar System and our galaxy is called the Milky Way. I'd explain it, but maybe showing you would be much easier. May I show you what I know by you using your telepathy?"

"Of course. Just clear your mind and focus on directing your thoughts to me.", Krystal explained.

"Ok, here goes." I followed her instructions and gave her a perfect view of our world and everything in and around it. As I kept on focusing my thoughts, Krystal started a small conversation.

"Wow. It's so beautiful. There's so many sights, sounds, foods and names I'd never even seen or heard of before. It's simply amazing."

"Thanks. I'm glad you liked that. Speaking of food, you must be very hungry and thirsty after that crash. Is there anything I can get for you?"

"Now that you mention it, sure." I asked her about all the different kinds of foods she liked to eat and made a mental note of them. She was mostly vegetarian and in a few minutes, I'd made her a salad with ranch dressing and a small plate of baked fish sticks, while I made myself a large plate of Totino's Pepperoni Pizza Rolls. I also had enough Sunny D for one and a half glasses, so I poured until both of ours were completely equal.

"Thank you, Michael. This meal is fantastic. What's this drink called, anyway?", she asked while licking her lips.

"It's called Orange Juice. Most of the plant life on this planet can be harvested and studied to see what can be made from them. The juice from the oranges is rich in Vitamin C and helps your immune system." As an afternoon snack, we each shared half of my last Ferrero Rocher hazelnut chocolate.

When our meals were finished, I noticed that Krystal was staring at my glasses very intently. "Is something wrong?", I asked.

"Oh, sorry about that. It's just, when you were helping me outside, your glasses were dark and I couldn't see your eyes. But now I can and the lenses are clear. Why is that?"

"Oh. You must be talking about my Transitions lenses."

"Transitions lenses?", she asked in a confused way.

I removed my glasses and explained: "These lenses are made of a very special material that's affected by direct sunlight exposure. Anytime I'm out in the sun, they turn dark in about 5-10 seconds and when I'm outside the light, they become clear in about three minutes."

"Really? May I see them?" Her question startled me.

_"Why would someone as beautiful as her want to see my glasses? Her vision's perfect and if she tried wearing them, neither of us would be able to see and our eyes would hurt.", _I thought to myself. I noticed upon hearing that, one of her ears was twitching, despite the fact that I was near-sighted. She gave them back and smiled at me once I put them back on my face.

"You really think I'm beautiful, Michael?", she asked while twirling one of her bangs with her right hand. I realized that I was trapped and just revealed my most precious feelings for her.

_"Uh-oh. You're in for it, now.", _My conscious added.

"I'm sorry! That was an accident, you see, I...", I tried to calm myself down, but I only made things worst for myself instead.

"It's okay, Michael. There's no need to be ashamed of your feelings. In fact, they're quite flattering.", she finished with a heart-warming giggle and a few bats of her eyelashes.

"Thanks, I guess. But still, you're the most beautiful person I've ever seen.", I said while blushing.

"Thank you for that.", she replied while blushing as well.

"Oh, yeah. That reminds me. How did you crash-land here, anyway?", I asked out of curiosity.

"We were on our way to the Great Fox to receive our next mission from Peppy, after we finished with our current mission of delivering vital medical supplies to a local hospital near our galaxy. As I typed in the hyperspace jump coordinates, I locked them in by mistake. Fox and Falco tried to rescue me by using their grappling cables but they missed and then, I was sucked in by the portal. The next thing I knew, I crashed into your garage and you saved me.", she finished.

"I see. That explains everything.", I said while nodding.

_"I wonder how Fox and the rest of his team is handling something like this? With Krystal here, there's no doubt in my mind that they're worried sick.", _I thought.

"Hmm... I'm sure I can still contact them from my long-range PDA. I just hope it wasn't damaged like my Arwing." She typed in a few commands and started speaking, "This is Krystal. Is anyone there? Please respond."

A few seconds later Fox's voice was heard. "Krystal, thank goodness you're ok. Where are you right now?", he asked.

"I'm on an inhabited planet called Earth. I'm sending you the coordinates now.", she said as she sent the data.

"Ok, we've received your coordinates and narrowed down your location, but that last hyperspace jump completely left us without any Fuel Cells and we won't get our next shipment until tomorrow. How are things on your end?"

"My Arwing crashed and my canopy controls were wrecked. Fortunately, a nearby inhabitant saw me in trouble and he rescued me. I also received some cuts from the landing, but they're patched up, now."

"Ok, when we're ready, we'll come and pick you up as soon as we can."

Upon hearing the conversation, I became worried. If the Great Fox were to come here, there would be a major panic and maybe even more damage to the acres around my home.

Krystal sensed my worry and spoke, "Fox, can you possibly pick me up in person? I don't think the Great Fox can land anywhere without causing a wide-spread panic, but you can use it to repair my Arwing."

"Understood. We'll contact you upon arrival. Fox out." And with that, Krystal turned off her communicator.

"Speaking of cuts, I think my shot's all better by now.", I said as I moved my left sleeve and peeled off the small, round bandage used to cover up the Flu Shot I had to get yesterday.

"Are you ok, what happened there?", Krystal asked as she pointed at it.

"Oh, this? It's just a Flu shot. You see, around this particular time, we have what's called 'Flu Season'. And we're required to get antibiotics injected into our bloodstream so we don't catch these contagious and often fatal viruses. Which reminds me, I've got to turn all the clocks back an hour for Daylight Saving time tomorrow."

"Your kind has Daylight Saving time, too?", Krystal asked. I nodded.

"So, what about the rest of your family? Will I have a chance to meet them later?"

"I'm not sure that's a good idea, Krystal. Although you meeting the rest of my folks would be great, I don't know if they'll get to understand or welcome you as much as I do. My two sister-in-laws would love to meet you, but they're too busy running errands to earn money for gas, clothes and other things while looking over their kids, so I don't know if they'll have enough time to introduce themselves when they come back later. When my three younger sisters come back from school, they'll be acting like they always do and they say and do things you might not want to see or even hear. My younger brother, Jose would freak out and start asking tons of questions once he sees you and my two older brothers would start making fun of me by saying you're my girlfriend and I'd never hear the end of it from either of them."

"That's ok. If you feel that way, I won't pressure you. You can tell them about it when you feel they're ready and I'll be right there to support you.", she said as she held my hands in good faith. They felt nice, warm and soft to the touch and I saw the honesty in her voice and face.

"Ok then. When they're all here, I'll introduce you. For now, there's got to be a way to pass the time."

"You can tell me more about your world and everything in it, starting with whatever you like.", she said.

Over the next few hours, I told Krystal all that I knew so far about my world and she listened as intently as she could. She was very fascinated by all of the many different kinds of things I explained to her from animation, animal names and kinds of studies to vehicle models and zodiac signs. Then, at around 3:00 P.M., I got a call from my mom saying she'd be home with groceries in about five minutes. Luckily, I also thought that Krystal's Arwing would give her away, but she used her PDA to manually activate a cloaking device that had a very long effect, so there was no need to worry for now.

When I saw my mom's van turn the corner on the other end of the road, I used my thoughts to ask Krystal to hide in my bedroom closet, but for her to keep enough open space for her to breathe until I helped my mom with everything she bought. She agreed and the task was done within four minutes.

"Hi, Michael. How was your day?", my mom asked as she walked toward her room to set down her purse.

"It's been ok. Just the usual stuff I do each morning.", I said. I also saw my brother, Jose, who was followed by my youngest sister, Rosa, my second-youngest sister, Brenda and her older twin sister, Glenda.

"So, Michael, you want to play Guitar Hero: World Tour?", Jose asked when all of the groceries were put away in their proper places.

"Jose, you know you have to eat first, then ask mom for permission to come into my room.", I said.

"No, Jose, you can't! You're still grounded from playing games for the week!", my mother yelled at him.

"Sorry, Jose. Maybe later, when you're not punished, ok?"

"Ok. I'll be waiting.", he said. As the hours passed, I entertained myself by playing my Xbox 360 games; Sonic The Hedgehog, Sonic Unleashed, Command And Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, Guitar Hero 2/3/World Tour/5 and Fallout: New Vegas. I also watched a few cartoons on my tv, like Pokemon, Naruto: Shippuden, the Total Drama series and Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

By the time it was 6:12, I heard a familiar rumbling coming from the driveway. And when the front door opened and shut, I heard a familiar female voice cooing to someone in baby talk. I knew who was here right away; it was my older brother, Edwin with his wife and my sister-in-law, Jackie and their only son and my nephew, E.J., a.k.a. Wingo. "Mine, not yours, but mine! I said it, first!", I shouted at Edwin, as we usually did, trying to jinx the other. As I touched his right shoulder when he didn't notice me, we both got a jolt of static electricity. I also saw my other sister-in-law, Josie, talking to her and Rudy's little daughter, Leticia, who was also my little niece.

"Hey, Josie. How's Rudy?", I asked her.

"He's at work, Mike. He'll be back later.", she answered.

"Ok, then. I'll see you later.", I said as I walked back to my room, where Krystal was trying to figure out how my stereo worked. I sat down on my bed next to her and cleared away some old junk that was on top of my stereo: an empty, see-through pencil sharpener, an unused box of tissues, a roll of toilet paper, a red ten of diamonds poker card, a broken staple remover, a bottle of silver glitter, a Wal-Mart bag with some pens, coupons for saving $2 on face care products, a magnetic letter T and a fake gold quarter that looked like it was part of a necklace. I showed Krystal what kinds of CDs I had and showed her how to use my stereo. Her favorite tunes were on my Selena 2-CD soundtrack, Boyz II Men II soundtrack, Within Temptation The Silent Force soundtrack and my All-4-One cassette tape, mainly because the tunes they played were about feelings for 'that special someone' you know is in your life somewhere. When my father and my brother, Rudy finally came home at around 9:00, I finally decided the time was right to let my family know who was here.

"Um, everyone, there's someone here I'd like you all to meet.", I said as I tried not to look too nervous.

"Who could it be, your girlfriend?", Edwin joked as he gave Rudy a high-five.

"Not really, but she's special in her own way.", I said while trying not to blush. I looked behind me and nodded my head, allowing Krystal to enter the kitchen. "May I present..."

"Hello, everyone. I'm Krystal of Cerinia. It's very nice to meet all of you in person." It didn't take very long for everyone to start asking her questions, while she answered them as calmly as she could.

"Lucky. You got to meet and know her better before we could. That's not fair!", Jose said.

"You think that's lucky? I saved her life and even got to use her indestructible Staff while you all were out. That's totally fair, Jose.", I said with a large grin.

"Mommy, look. She's so pretty.", Leticia said as she gave Krystal a hug and tried to brush her tail.

"Thank you, little one. You're very pretty, yourself.", Krystal said as she returned the hug.

"So, Michael here saved your life? That was a very smart thing to do.", my mom said as she looked at me.

"It was indeed. You've done a great job of raising such a noble son, I'll always be grateful for all he's done for me.", Krystal said.

"That's my boy!", my dad cheered in his favorite quote from Tom And Jerry, which I usually hated, but I let it slide just this once.

"How long has she been here, anyway?", Rudy asked.

"Around the time Edwin left the house after lunch.", I answered.

"So, if she's been here all day, where was she hiding?", Rosa asked.

"While you were out, she was with me. I had her hiding in my closet when you came so the surprise wouldn't be seen too early."

"This house has so many beautiful pictures everywhere. Where did you get them all?", Krystal asked my mom.

"We had some of them taken throughout the years and others were purchased at local stores or Flea Markets. I'm glad you like them.", she responded. Krystal was also fascinated by the many Native American and angel items she kept throughout our house. My mother had a hobby of collecting them for quite some time, until she had to make room for other pictures when my brothers married and had their kids. Krystal seemed intent on figuring out the picture of Jesus we had on our living room wall. It was one of those 'picture within the pictures' and she looked like she was in a trance. The picture of Jesus portrayed his Crucifixion, and a close-up of his face; a flock of birds and several eyes formed the crown of thorns, the wooden cross formed his eyebrows, while his head and face became his left eye and the cloth nailed behind his hands formed the right one, his body became the nose, his loincloth and right thigh formed his mustache and mouth, respectively, his left thigh and the rest of his legs formed his chin and beard, two mournful faces became the bleeding cuts near his body and another row of crosses finished his sideburns. It was a painful sight to see, but stood for our atonement.

I also showed her the souvenirs I bought from my summer vacation with my relatives at Brookfield Zoo in Chicago, where I was born. I had a green shirt with a picture of three black-gray wolves howling under the full moon, a round stained glass ornament with a pair of brown wolves and a pine tree covered in snow on it and a small wooden carving of a female wolf nuzzling against a male wolf, which were dark brown and grayish-white in color. This didn't mean I liked Star Wolf, I only got those souvenirs because wolves were an important part of Native American history/folklore and I also thought they'd go well with my mom's decorations. Krystal sensed my thoughts but didn't mind and complemented them, instead, which I thanked her for. By the time 10:00 came, my mom had my little siblings go to bed and I told Krystal she could use my bed for the night, while I slept in my recliner sofa. She said that it wouldn't be fair for me to get such a small sleeping space, but I told her I didn't mind. After our dinner of Krystal having a bowl of Kraft Velveeta macaroni shells and cheese, me having a plate of Pepperoni Bagel Bites and both of us sharing half a Klondike Choco Taco for dessert, we got ready for sleep. After giving each other a goodnight smile and a hug, we both got our beds ready and fell asleep. The next morning, after everyone had gone and me and Krystal were the only ones left in my house, Krystal's communicator beeped and we got a message from Fox saying he'd be here to pick her up in about two minutes.

"Thank you so much, Michael. I only wish I could repay you somehow after all our wonderful time together.", Krystal said as she and I shared a loving farewell embrace.

"It doesn't seem fair, does it? We've only known each other for a day, but I feel like I've known you my whole life.", I said with tears forming in my eyes.

"If I really mean that much to you, then why don't you be a part of the Star Fox team?", Krystal asked while lending me her right hand. I was really surprised that she'd offer me a chance like this, but could I risk it? I'd be leaving my home and family for a long time, maybe even forever, but I took a deep breath and told Krystal my decision.

To be continued... I really hope you liked this chapter, but I'll need time to come up with new ideas for the next chapters, if you want to see any. Let me give a VERY special thanks to my new friend Justin C, for inspiring me to make this story and making me feel like a true writer. I owe you one, man. Please review and leave votes on your reviews, ok? See you soon.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Ok, Krystal. My answer's yes. I'll join the team, but I'll need to pack a few things, first. Please tell Fox to wait up for me when he lands, ok?"

"I promise and I know you'll do even greater deeds in our galaxy, Michael." I nodded and ran inside my house to start packing. I thought about bringing my Nintendo Wii and Xbox 360, but then I thought about how important the bridge monitor was for receiving and sending calls to other beings from the other parts of the galaxy and using that kind of technology for something as common as playing video games would only serve to make Fox and the others mad, so I decided against it. I opened up the attic and brought down the navy-blue suitcase I used for the summer and packed what I needed to bring with me. When I had everything packed, I ran outside and saw Fox waiting for me by his Arwing.

"So, you're the one who helped Krystal out when she was in trouble, right?", he asked.

"Yes, I am. It's a great honor to meet the famous Fox McCloud in person.", I said while shaking his hand in awe and respect.

"The honor's mine. I can't possibly thank you enough for saving her. We all owe you a great debt. So, are you ready to come with us?", Fox said as he pointed to his Arwing with his thumb.

"I am, but how am I going to fit in there? I don't know if your seats are adjustable and I'm not too fond of being crowded."

"Don't worry, the Arwing seats can be adjusted, so you and your suitcase will be able to come aboard. And the trip will only take about 10 seconds."

"Alright, I'm in! Lead the way, Fox.", I said excitedly. Fox pressed a few buttons on his communicator and he jumped into the open canopy like a gold gymnast. I handed my suitcase to Fox, who put it behind his seat, then he motioned for me to grab his hand as he pulled me up enough to climb inside and sit behind him with my legs tucked in. He pressed a few command buttons on his console and after slowly ascending to three feet, he pointed his Arwing toward the blue sky and we blasted off like a sonic boom. The flight was awesome, but it left me a little nauseous and lightheaded, so I stumbled a bit when we landed at the docking bay.

"That was your first trip inside an Arwing, huh? Don't worry, you'll get used to it. C'mon, let's go see the rest of the team.", Fox said as he patted my back with an amused chuckle and walked through the sliding doors that led to the bridge.

"Ugh... Wait up, Fox!", I said as I groggily tried to restore my balance. The walk down the hallway was exhausting; what took about five minutes felt like five hours and by the time I reached the bridge, I was too worn out to even acknowledge anyone. I simply walked to the closest seat I could and sat down.

"Is he ok? What's wrong with him?", Falco said.

"My sensors indicate mild signs of hunger and severe exhaustion. Subject needs proper amounts of food and rest for brain functions to revitalize body.", ROB said as he ran a small hand scanner across my face. Krystal immediately ran to the kitchen, looking for anything she could make for my hunger, since I didn't have breakfast that morning. About ten minutes later, I caught the familiar scent of eggs, made sunny side-up, my favorite. I used a fork Fox gave me to eat the eggs and I was full in no time. I'd also managed to get some amount of sleep from when Krystal was making my breakfast. It wasn't about an hour, like I'd usually get, but it was good enough.

"Ahh. Sorry about that, I didn't mean to disrespect you. We humans are quite different from each other, as you can all see.", I said as I wiped my mouth with a napkin. After about a minute, I started sneezing wildly, like I had a cold. "Sorry, sniff... it's just, my father and me have a condition that makes us sneeze a lot when we stop eating or drinking. We'd sneeze so much, our eyes would get watery sometimes, our noses would become runny and it wouldn't stop until all the food and drink we had was completely digested. But don't worry, it's not contagious.", I said as I blew my nose to suppress a nose dripping.

"Is there any way we can cure it?", Slippy asked.

"Sorry, but, achoo... sniff... nothing we tried on Earth worked for us. I don't even know if your kind of technology can help, either."

"Man, that's low. But at least we know it can't be caught or spread by everyone.", Falco said.

"Falco, give the man a break. He's not feeling well.", Peppy said as he walked up to me. "Listen, Krystal told us about how you decided to join the team. We'll make a spare bedroom for you to stay in, but you'll need to enter your name, so we know it's yours when we visit. Fox will show it to you."

"Ok, everyone. We just left the atmosphere and we'll start the hyperspace jump back to the Lylat system in five minutes. Get to your rooms and hold on to your beds, everybody.", Fox said. Everyone nodded and followed his orders without even questioning him. "Come on, Michael. The room you'll be having is this way.", Fox said as he led us to an elevator that was about the size of any you'd find inside a company and supported the same weight capacity. And he pushed the button for the second floor: crew rooms. When the doors opened, Fox led me to the fourth room on the right, across from the lounge the team usually relaxed in. Once Fox showed me how to activate the security lock, which I used to type in my name, I went into my new quarters to see what it had to offer. It had a bed, dresser and mirror, a digital clock, a bathroom and a closet.

"Hyperspace jump commencing in t-minus two minutes. All personnel MUST be in their rooms immediately for safe travel.", ROB said over Fox's communicator. I didn't quite have enough time to start unpacking, since the jump would make everything that wasn't nailed down fly into the walls at breakneck speeds and most likely cause one of the most horrible ways to die, so I moved my suitcase and myself under the bed and grabbed the closest leg as tightly as I could.

"_I sure hope this is as short as my trip on the Arwing."_, I thought.

"Hyperspace jump activating in three... two... one...", ROB said. The countdown ended and the next thing I knew, I was blasted throughout space at such rapid speeds, it felt like the very skin on my body would be gruesomely peeled away, until only my empty skeleton lay lifeless on the floor.

As soon as it was over, I ran into the bathroom and puked the heck out of my stomach, each release tasting much worse than the last as the horrible water washed over my tongue. The rest of that day was quite horrible. I was so weak and worn out from my sudden trip that I had no choice but to lie in bed once I took my medicine, which made me feel better after a few hours. When my stomach recovered, I found the rest of the team in the lounge, where Krystal was telling the team what her first day on Earth was like. I noticed that she wasn't wearing the bandages I gave her yesterday and figured that her cuts must have completely healed while I was sleeping.

"And that's how the day went for us.", she finished.

"Sounds like quite a nice place to visit every once in a while.", Peppy said.

"Don't try to think it's all peaceful, Peppy. My galaxy is so similar to yours, it's almost scary.", I warned.

"How do you know all of our names, anyway?", Slippy asked.

"Well, everything here is based on an idea thought of by famous Japanese producers and executives. Let me show you.", I said as I pulled out my DS Lite and started up Star Fox Command. When I showed them the Single Player Stage Select screen, everyone's eyes went wide in wonder. Every single planet and sector were in their correct positions. Even their names, colors and backgrounds matched.

"That is so creepy, what is this thing, anyway?", Falco asked.

"This is my DS Lite system. DS stands for Dual Screen and it's called Lite because its screens are brighter and lighter (no pun intended) than the original model.", I said as I gave it to each of them for study.

"It feels so weird, but so cool at the same time.", Slippy said as he gave it back to me.

"So, Peppy, I'm very excited to be a part of the team, but how could I possibly contribute to your cause? I know how to use weapons and pull off a successful attack-and-defend mission, but I don't know how to pilot your vehicles or if I'm able to breathe on other planets, like you all can."

"Actually, it's Fox who recruits the new members of our team. I may be General of the Army, but that kind of job rests on his shoulders, not mine.", he replied.

"There's no need for you to worry, Michael. The Great Fox has plenty of wide-open space in our training simulator and you can practice for as long as you'd like to. And as for breathing, if you aren't able to support us on your first mission, we'll pull you out of it and Slippy and ROB can make a special flight suit customized to help your breathing anywhere. So, are you in or out?", Fox said as he offered me to shake his right hand.

"I'm in. In return, I'll tell you what I know about my galaxy, so when the information is saved on Rob's or the Great Fox's databanks, you can use this data to help you plan ahead the next time you make a visit to Earth. Do we have a deal?"

"It's a deal.", Fox said. And as we shook hands, I was forever a part of them, like they were a part of me. When our handshake ended, a growl in my stomach reminded me that I only had some eggs for breakfast and I could really use some lunch.

"Sounds like you could use a bite to eat, Michael. Since Krystal already made breakfast, why don't you show us your cooking skills?", Fox said. To tell the truth, I really was good with making food, but I didn't quite use a stove or oven to make food for others. I'd usually make food for myself by using a microwave, deep-fryer, toaster oven and other things, but not when making more than one serving. Gathering up my courage, I asked them what they each wanted to eat. Fox wanted a cheeseburger with everything, Krystal ordered a salad, Falco and Slippy each wanted a sandwich and Peppy wanted carrots. I made myself a double cheeseburger with ketchup, mayonnaise and bacon. All that food took about forty minutes to find and make, because of my condition and I had to handle the food with a pair of gloves and a mask to avoid disgusting the team.

"There you go, everyone. Lunch is served.", I said as I took my own meal and walked to my room with it.

"What's up? You're not going to eat with us?", Falco asked.

"Sorry, but I like to eat alone and I don't want to disgust you all with my eating habits. I hope you understand.", I said apologetically. I went back to my room and enjoyed my lunch. When I was done, I took my suitcase out from under the bed and started unpacking my things. "Now it looks just like my room back on Earth.", I said with a smile. I lay down on my bed and played Pokemon on my DS. I decided to pick up where I left off, on the third floor of Mt. Bristle. It certainly wasn't easy moving through a mystery dungeon, especially since you didn't know what to expect around each and every corner of any floor. I sure wished I had more than just my Riolu and Vulpix, but unfortunately, I couldn't recruit any other Pokemon until I reached Chapter 5 and I was only on Chapter 3. As I made my way through to the final floor, I heard Fox's voice over a loudspeaker saying that we reached the base on Corneria and would be landing shortly. I saved my game, put my DS in sleep mode and started worrying. Worrying about my future with the team. I felt comfort from knowing that the team would be there to help me through every step of my training, but that made me feel weak and I was certain that I could learn most things on my own, but I didn't want to hurt any of their feelings either. What could I do? I just finished that mental question when I heard my door slide open and saw Krystal take a seat next to me.

"Sorry that I came in without asking, but I felt your thought patterns and wondered what was wrong.", she said.

"I'm sorry about that. It's just, this is going to be an amazing adventure, but I don't know how I'm going to survive in a world like yours.", I said as I looked down at my feet. Then Krystal placed her hand under my chin and moved my head up to where I could look deep into her eyes.

"Michael, it's perfectly natural for someone to be nervous when trying something new on their first day. I mean, look at me. I've been part of the team for over a year and I can still remember how nervous I was when I first started training with them." That really took me by surprise.

"You, nervous? But aren't you supposed to be a fast learner?", I asked.

"I am, but I only knew how to handle my Staff and fly an aircraft before Fox rescued me. I wasn't quite used to using the same weapons they did, but as I practiced more and more each day, I got better at using them."

"Thanks, I guess. But still, I don't want any of you to be embarrassed by me if I mess up on something during my training."

"Michael, it's okay to make mistakes every once in a while. The point is to learn from them and think about how you can improve your skills on your own."

"Thank you, Krystal. I really needed that."

"No problem. If you ever need help with something, just ask any of us. We'll always be there to help you. Now come with us. We need you to come into the base if you want to join.", she said as she grabbed my hand and led me into the hallway. As we boarded the elevator, I noticed Fox was staring at me and although he didn't want to show it around Krystal, he looked like he was about to hurt me the instant he and I were alone. I may not be able to read minds, but I _COULD_ read expressions. Luckily, the elevator held all of us safely, despite the crowded space and we went into the gigantic base in front of us. The base was a marvel within itself; it was almost like being inside the Statue of Liberty, Sears Tower and the NASA Space Center of Houston all at the same time. As I looked back at the Great Fox, I noticed it had the exact same design it did in the Lylat Cruise stage of Super Smash Bros. Brawl. And the team was wearing their uniforms from that game too. As we made our way to Peppy's office on the third floor, I noticed the Cornerian dog soldiers giving me the strangest looks, like I was some weird experiment that Andross made before he died at Fox's hands, so to speak.

"Um, Peppy, I don't think I might be welcome here. Your troops keep staring at me.", I said as we took the elevator that led there.

"Not to worry, Michael. I'm sure my troops will accept you, they just need some time to get used to seeing your own kind, that's all.", he said with a reassuring tone. Once we were inside his office, Peppy sat down in his chair and looked at me with a serious look unlike any I'd ever seen on him before. "Now, before you join us, I'll have to ask you some questions about yourself. And it's also required that you have a physical, so we know how your anatomy is."

"Alright, fine. I'll take the physical, but not in front of you and the team. They can see my x-rays if you need any, but I'm not exposing myself to them.", I said evenly.

"Don't worry, Michael. We won't allow you to be in a situation that makes you uncomfortable. Each will only take a few minutes and we'll only be going through basic scans and tests, that's all.", Peppy said.

_1 hour later..._ The tests I took were annoying, but nothing I hadn't tried before, like a mild dose of radiation from an x-ray, having a hammer hit my knees to test my reflexes and checking how well my vision was. The toughest, by far, was going through that gyroscope machine. It made me so dizzy, I still felt like my recovery from the intense gs would take minutes instead of seconds. When all the testing was done, I was led into some kind of giant closet and asked how I wanted my uniform. I chose a black and white shirt with a red Star Fox insignia on the left shoulder, a pair of sky blue jeans that were tight enough to fit without a belt and loose enough to get in or out of without needing to mess with the button or zipper, black combat boots and a white vest. I also wore a reflector and a blaster holster on my right hip so reaching them would be easy since I was right-handed. I had Slippy and ROB customize my blaster to fire rapidly, like Fox's and it would make any of my opponents flinch, like Falco's. Finally, I was given my own Arwing, Blue Marine and Landmaster and the team even let me name them. I didn't know how I'd take all three of these awesome vehicles home with me, but I had an idea for combining them. "Slippy, Rob, would it be possible to combine all three of these vehicles at once, in case I get a mission that requires all three of them?", I asked.

"Actually, we've never thought about doing something like that. ROB, can all three of our main vehicles be combined into one powerful fighter for a mission like that?", he asked.

"Calculating... Probability of successful fusion is 45%, however, total designs exceed expectations.", ROB answered.

"It's worth a try, I guess. Tell us how you'd like it to be built and we'll see what we can do.", Slippy said.

I went through the details based on what I'd seen in movies and cartoons and suggested it would mostly be like an Arwing, then, it would transform into a Landmaster by closing the wings, showing tank treads and expanding the fuselage, finally, it would become a Blue Marine by changing the engines, shrinking the cannon and becoming lighter. It sounded strange but pretty awesome too. Before I let Slippy and Rob get to work, I was given the option to customize my Arwing. I put a mask on my face to avoid the foul smell of paint, which I couldn't stand and to avoid acting like an idiot by inhaling it. I had the engines painted black, the Star Fox symbols red, an American flag above the right engine's symbol, a bald eagle on the right side of my cockpit and an angel on the left side. I also had it equipped with strong shields and maximum boosters, a plasma shot, multi-lock, reinforced wings, three wide-spread bombs, a canopy that was made from the same material as my glasses, an EMP blast and a stealth option. All it needed was a name. I paced around for a bit before coming up with one that fit perfectly. Before naming it, I went inside the lobby and poured myself some cold water in a large glass, then came within arm's length of it. "I christen thee... American Angel!", I said as I threw the water at my new ship and watched the glass explode into tiny pieces.

I wasn't normally one to go against tradition, but the thought of having my ship reek of alcohol was too much and I certainly didn't want to act like an addictive person, like my brother Rudy was. I apologized to Peppy for breaking one of his lobby's drinking glasses, but he said it was ok and able to be replaced.

"That sure is an interesting name, but why'd you pick it, Michael?", Falco asked.

"Well, it's because of my religion and beliefs. On Earth, my own kind has many different kinds of races, religions, animals and so on. My religion is called Catholicism and we have our own way of believing in things. The Angel part of my ship represents good and purity, while the American part of my ship represents the natural-born part of me that I feel like. I may be a Hispanic, but I feel American most of the time. The eagle on my Arwing is an important symbol for my country.", I explained.

As I started explaining about my country and how my parents had their beliefs, Lucy Hare came up to her father and talked about an important message waiting for him in his office. When she saw me, she became quite fascinated. "I've never seen anything quite like you before. Who are you and what are you doing here?", she asked politely.

"My name's Michael Angelo Pena. I'm here because your friend Krystal offered me a chance to join the Star Fox team after I saved her life and I accepted. It's nice to meet you.", I said while shaking her hand.

"Really, what happened, Krystal?", Lucy asked with concern in her voice. Krystal explained by using her telepathy, but had to stop suddenly when Peppy said that Star Wolf was attacking a local spaceship transporting rations and ammunition to the base on Katina.

"I'm sorry about that, Lucy. I promise I'll fill you in on the rest as soon as we get back, ok?", Krystal said as she entered her Arwing.

"I'll be waiting. And be careful out there, Michael!", Lucy yelled back. I nodded. Although I was excited to be going on my first mission, I didn't even start my training yet. Fox noticed I needed help and ordered ROB to send pilot instructions to me from my communicator.

"Affirmative. Sending info now.", ROB said in his usual tone. A few seconds later, I read the information on the screen and after about one hour of practicing, I was ready to fly with my new teammates. When we reached Katina about 2 hours later, I got a reading of three hostile ships heading toward us on my radar.

"Heads up, everyone! I just spotted three enemy readings 2-3 clicks ahead of us.", I said.

"It's Star Wolf alright. I can recognize their thought patterns from anywhere.", Krystal said.

"Slippy, Michael, you two handle the transportation, while, me, Krystal and Falco handle Star Wolf!", Fox ordered.

"Copy that, Fox!", Slippy responded.

"Aye-aye, Captain Fox!", I said.

"There's no need for you to call me that, Michael. It may be the appropriate name for a leader, but I want to feel like a soldier, not a pirate.", Fox said with a slight frown.

"Oops. Sorry about that, sir.", I apologized.

"Don't worry. It's not your fault, Michael.", Peppy said.

"Thanks. So, Slippy, how do I activate my cloaking device?", I asked.

"All you have to do is press the button underneath your right ring finger and think about what you want your Arwing to look like. The ship will do the rest.", he answered.

"Ok, activating now!", I said. I pressed the blue button, closed my eyes and thought about flying in one of the jets the famous Blue Angels used during their Air Shows. About five seconds later, my ship felt different. I looked around my cockpit and saw that Slippy's device functioned perfectly. "Awesome job, Slippy! The device worked like a charm.", I cheered.

"Thanks, Michael. Now, let's get to work on helping that transport reach Katina."

"Roger that. Opening channel to the crew now.", I said as I pressed a few buttons on my communicator.

"Wolf, the mighty Panther has picked up another ship that's alongside the Star Fox team. There's a communication between it and our target, but when Panther looks at the radar it's gone. Shall Panther engage?", Panther asked as he studied his radar intently.

"Just a minute, Panther. I don't see any other ship on my radar.", Wolf answered.

"Same here. If there's someone else here, we should find out who they are.", Leon hissed.

"Panther, find that ship and tell us about it. If the pilot's really with those _wimps_, then shoot it until nothing's left.", Wolf ordered.

"Very well, then. Panther loves a new challenge.", he growled to himself. As soon as me and Slippy received clearance to guide the ship from the pilot inside and began entering the planet's atmosphere, I got a warning from an overhead light above me.

"_Michael, watch out! Star Wolf is trying to find out if you're with us or not._", Krystal warned me with her telepathy.

"_Oh, man. If they find out I'm against them, this'll be the shortest mission of my life. Keep them occupied until Slippy and I regroup with you. We can't fail this mission!"_, I thought back. The descent to the planet was a long one; each second I was staring at the roaring flames around me felt like I was part of a meteor on a one-way ticket to destroying the planet. Even though the Arwings were made to resist these kinds of temperatures, I still felt like mine would tear itself apart at any moment.

Suddenly, I got a message on my communicator: "This is Panther Coroso of Star Wolf. State your name and business here or else die.", he ordered. There was no way I was going to risk Star Wolf getting a chance to "know" me, so I activated my boosters to gain some distance and make the mission finish faster.

"Very well, then. If that's how you want to be, prepare to die!", Panther roared as he fired his Zapper right at my engines. I tried dodging to the left, but I still got hit and my shields dropped to 35%. If I took another blow like that, I'd be finished. I heard a sparking sound around me and noticed a small current of electricity around my fuselage. My cloaking device was still intact and I didn't feel like I'd been found out yet, but I still had 300 more feet to go in order to reach the planet's surface. The numbers were ticking faster and my death felt closer, but after three seemingly endless seconds, me and Slippy finally reached the planet and began to land. "You can't evade your doom forever. Now you're finished!", Panther said as he fired another shot at me. I'd barely gotten out of my ship and was five feet away from it when I heard the shot behind me.

"Michael, quick, use your reflector! It's the only thing strong enough to save you!", Slippy croaked at me.

"I hope you're right, Slippy. Or else, I'll take back that complement from earlier." I ran my right hand over the hexagon-shaped device, brought it up to my face and flinched as I waited for the impact. In about two seconds, I'd either be dead or alive. I heard a strange zapping sound from in front of me, but I was too scared to see what it was.

"Michael, you did it! The Zapper's heading straight for Panther, look!", Slippy cried. I slowly opened my eyes and saw that I was ok. I felt my body to check for burns but felt none, whatsoever. I also heard an enraged roar from overhead and saw that one of Panther's right wings had been blown clean off and the blast was still headed for space. As I used my hands to follow it like a pair of binoculars, I heard Krystal speaking to me in my mind again.

"_Nicely done, Michael. That reflected blast hit Leon and Wolf at the same time and knocked out their weapons."_

"_Nice, I got three birds with one stone."_, I thought. My victory was short-lived, however, as Panther leaped from his ship and made a dash for me. In general, I was strongly against harming animals of any kind, but since I was fighting my new teams' rival, I would have to make that sacrifice. It was time for the predator to become the prey. And I prayed to God that I'd get through this intact.

That's all for now, everyone. By the way, this story of mine isn't just about Romance. If you look at my story genres, you'll see that I also put General next to Romance, but for some reason, when I read the story itself, it only shows my first genre. It could be an Internet glitch, but I've yet to confirm it. Just thought I'd let you know, ok? And let me tell you something, bryan mccloud, I don't like it when people tell me off about something, especially the way you told me off on my story, when I put so much effort and imagination into it. If you don't like how I made my chapters, I'll gladly edit them to make them more appealing to you. I also won't be updating, with the holidays coming up, but I'll start working again in January. Until then, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Catch you later!


	3. Chapter 3

Author Note: Well everyone, I promised I'd update in January and the promise is kept. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Carry on.

Chapter 3

"No one manages to outfox the mighty Panther and lives! You'll rue the day you ever crossed paths with Star Wolf!", Panther roared. As he began charging at me, I started running for my life. Call me a coward if you like, but there was no way I'd survive a hand-to-hand fight like this. My only chance was to evade his merciless barrage of clawed swipes while I stunned him with my blaster. As I was catching my breath after running for about 50 seconds, Panther saw my condition as an opening and tried attacking again. I revealed my blaster and took careful aim. If I tried shooting where he was, I'd be wasting my chances of winning. I made it look like I was aiming for him, when I was actually shooting at where he was going to be. Most of my shots missed and I was becoming more exhausted by the minute. Suddenly, I got a great idea. I made my way over to the transportation ship and asked the pilot for a Grenade. He seemed confused as to why I'd use such a powerful weapon, but I told him he could deduct the cost of it from my payment. He gave it to me without another word and I started calculating inside my head.

"_Let's see. I've got a Grenade that appears to explode in five seconds, like a Hand Grenade back on Earth. Panther's Wolfen is about 3 meters away from me. If I throw the bomb at around 2 seconds at a 45 degree angle like a fastball, it should land directly on his seat and completely destroy its main functions. Ok, it's payback time!"_, I thought to myself. Without another second to waste, I went through with my plan and it worked perfectly. The look on Panther's face when the explosion took place was very hilarious and I could still hear his enraged roar over my covered ears. I looked to Slippy to lend me a hand, but he was still in the cargo hold of the ship, taking inventory with his PDA. After about three minutes of trying to run to my ship, I fell to my knees in failure and waited for Panther to strike, but I wasn't harmed.

"Quick, husky unit, surround Panther and aid that pilot. He's with Star Fox!", I heard a male's voice order. I didn't quite recognize the voice, but there was only one person I knew of who gave orders at this place.

"Bill Grey...", I panted. As I tried to stand up, two pairs of arms wrapped around mine as my legs were about to give out.

"Easy there, buddy. It looks like you need some time to catch your breath. Bulldog unit, take him to the infirmary and give him some oxygen. Slippy and me will handle the rest.", he ordered. They nodded and started walking me towards the nearest base.

"Thanks, Bill. We appreciate you helping out Michael like that.", Fox said as he opened a channel to his childhood friend.

"Not a problem, partner. The enemy of our enemy is our friend. We'll let you know how he is when he recovers. Just give us about thirty minutes, ok?"

"Ok. We'll take care of things here, while you restrain Panther. We're counting on you, buddy.", Krystal said. "_And Michael. You did a spectacular job, despite your weakness._"

"_Thank you._", I thought back.

"Before you leave, Panther must know, who are you and why do you prove to be most disappointing yet interesting prey?", he asked while I tried not to show the Star Fox symbol on my uniform.

"I'm never giving you my name but know this: if you ever try messing with my friends again, I'll make you regret it. The same goes for your annoying friend, Leon and pathetic leader, Wolf O'Donnell.", I replied in Snake's voice from Super Smash Bros. Brawl. I wasn't even staring at Panther, but I had a feeling he was just standing there, mouth wide open, puzzled as to how I knew about his other partners. I didn't quite like hospitals all that much because seeing myself in a hospital bed alongside many other kinds of patients brought back memories... painful memories.

_Thirty minutes later..._

"Ok, Michael. Your new flight suit's ready. Do you want to wear it?", Slippy asked as he held said suit in his hands.

"Sure, but is there a bathroom or something I can change in? I'm not too comfortable with people catching glimpses of my body and I want to feel decent.", I replied while looking at the doctor.

"Of course. Just go to the hallway and it's through the fifth door on your left, across from the cafeteria.", the male cheetah told me. I made my way over there while holding my unfolded jeans behind me, so nobody would see my exposed underwear through the opened back of my temporary gown. My improved clothes were back on in a minute and I gave the gown back to the doctor.

"Ok, let's see if this works. Where can I find the exit, doctor?", I asked.

"You're on the second floor. Just take the elevator near the end of the hall and it's on your immediate right. I'm sure you'll find it without any problems.", the doctor answered.

"So, how much do I owe you for the room?", I asked.

"There's no need for payment. Everyone who fights to protect our galaxy receives substantial payment, regardless of effort and since you helped us without delay, we won't charge you even a single dollar.", he said with a thankful smile.

"Ok team, our mission's done here. Let's head back to the Great Fox and prepare for tomorrow.", Fox said as he received our payment from the doctor.

"I got to hand it to you, Michael. That was some genius thinking, blowing up the inside of that weirdo's Wolfen like that. I can still hear the ringing in my ears.", Slippy said as he patted my back.

"Thanks, but I might need some work on my throwing arm. It know it looked easy, but I still feel some soreness in it.", I said as I moved it around in a windmill motion, trying to pop it.

"I sense your pain, but you're acting like it's nothing. Why is that?", Krystal asked as we took the elevator.

"It's a technique called mind over matter. Whenever we experience any kind of pain, whether it's intense or not, we need to avoid thinking about it immediately. Eventually, it's like nothing happened and healing is much quicker. But if you ignore this important life lesson, the pain will continue to be severe until you stop thinking about it altogether.", I answered.

Fox nodded, knowing all about what I was explaining as he remembered using it many times throughout his entire life. Once we were outside, I noticed some trees around the building and decided to see if my new suit worked. I stood directly in front of one and took two deep breaths, one through my nose and the other through my mouth. I felt the fresh oxygen enter my lungs and smiled. Slippy's modifications were a successful achievement. "Thanks, Slippy. If there's anything I can do to repay you, just ask.", I said as I walked back to the team.

"Tell me more about your own kinds' accomplishments and you've got a deal!", he answered. We shook hands and the deal was made. As we made our way to the Great Fox, I gave one last look at Wolf and his hangers-on and gave them the 'I'm watching you' look with my right hand. Anyone who was there when I did that wasn't stupid to know that they didn't take that very well and glared at me as if to get revenge the next time we met, but they seemed puzzled about my glasses, since the light coming from Solar was enough like my planet's sunlight to make my glasses turn dark and I looked like I was blind.

"What was that, Michael? I've seen people taunting with their lips, but with their hands. That's just weird.", Falco said.

"It's just lingo. Aren't you familiar with that kind of thing?", I asked.

"Usually, but nothing like that.", he said.

"Well, if you must know, lingo is a word for language and it comes in many different forms. Like Krystal's Dinosaur Language or my English, which you call Lylatian.", I explained.

"Your kind knows Dinosaur Language?", Krystal asked in a surprised tone.

"Of course we do. I happen to understand that language, too, but I can't quite speak it very well since I take my time sounding out whatever I say.", I replied.

"That's amazing. Other than the inhabitants of Sauria, I don't know of anyone else who can speak that language like Krystal can.", Fox said.

"You'd be amazed at who could, Fox. I just happen to know some good friends who can.", I answered.

_Back on the Great Fox... _My first mission was so awesome, yet exhausting as well. I was so tired from all that running away from Panther, that I wanted to go straight to my room and sleep the rest of the day without any dinner, but at the same time, I was so excited, I just couldn't find the strength to even fall asleep. Just one of the many perks the team must go through each day, I guess. I just had to do something to keep this memory inside of my mind forever, but I couldn't figure out what. After five whole minutes of staring at the ceiling while lying on my back, an idea came to me. I'd draw a picture of that mission. It was perfect. The mission was all I could think about and I had each and every single detail burned into my mind, right down to the last word. Taking out a large sheet of drawing paper, along with some other artist utensils, I thought back to the mission and started drawing from scratch. What would usually take me about a week was finished in about 2 hours. I drew a picture of me and Panther charging at each other on Katina's surface, while faint, ghostly images of Star Fox and Star Wolf's faces were glaring at each others' rivals above their ships and the pilot transporting the supplies had his face looking down at us, as if he was praying for me and my friends' safety and well-being. I had every image drawn vividly, yet slightly erased on some angles and for the finishing touch, I wrote my name and today's date in the lower-right corner of my masterpiece. I just couldn't wait to show it to my friends and listen to what they'd think of it. As it turned out, I found them relaxing in the lounge and kept my picture behind my back, so no one but Krystal would know what I was about to show them.

"Hey, Michael. Why did you go to your room all of a sudden? You nearly missed dinner.", Peppy said.

"Sorry, but my first mission made me have a bunch of emotions inside and I needed some time to commemorate the occasion.", I said.

"What's that thing you've got behind you?", Fox asked.

"Well, since I never wanted to forget this day, I made a picture. Ta-da! What do you all think?", I said as I showed them my drawing and placed it on the table.

To say that they were amazed was a major understatement. Neither of them could take their eyes off such perfect detail for even a millisecond.

"Wow. I've never seen such wonderful art like this in a day. Where did you learn to draw like this, Michael?", Krystal asked as she ran her finger across the picture, as if it was calling to her.

"I didn't take 5 years of art class for nothing. I'm glad you all like it.", I said with a smile.

"And you're just giving this to us? Are you sure you don't want anything in return?", Fox asked.

"All I want is that you share it with all of your friends and each of you treasure it forever."

"We will. I'm sure Bill and the others would love to see it in the morning. Thanks, Michael!", Slippy said.

"No problem. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to make some dinner and take a shower. All that running sure worked up a sweat and appetite.", I said as I headed down the corridor and into the elevator that led to the kitchen. I was hungry enough for about 3 servings of almost any kind of food and the growling in my stomach backed me up on that. After about an hour of cooking, my stomach was full of delicious food like lightly salted fries smothered with mild nacho cheese sauce, a bowl of bread pudding and 2 crispy chicken legs. Usually, overeating like that gave me an upset stomach and hiccups but since I was starved, I couldn't have felt any better. Then after my shower, I was dressed up in a pair of blue jeans and a green Legend of Zelda T-shirt my brother Edwin got me for Christmas last year.

As I was lying on my bed and listening to Indestructible by Disturbed, I was wondering about the appearances of both Star Fox and Star Wolf. Each of them looked like they did in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but when Panther shot at me, his laser was configured like the Zapper in Star Fox Command. Could I possibly be somewhere in-between those games? I obviously was if Fox and his friends were still together and Star Wolf's ships were made like that. It also looked like the Anglar War hadn't started yet, so I supposed I could show them the many outcomes of Star Fox Command, if they were ready to see what would happen to their galaxy. As I was thinking about the endings to Star Fox Command, I heard my door slide open and once again, there was Krystal walking up to me sensing something going on in my mind.

"I felt your concern for me and my friends, Michael. Do you want to talk about it?", she asked.

"Nothing really gets by you when it come to thought patterns, does it?", I asked back.

"Not really. It may be an annoying power to others, since nothing in their minds gets by me. But I've had quite a fondness of it, since I learned from my parents about having this power since birth."

"Well, if you must know, I was looking at all the possible futures involving you and the team. Usually, whenever sharing something as important as someone's future, this particular information is forbidden, because if others learn of it, he or she will go to the greatest of lengths to stop or alter it. However, since you're the trustworthy type, I see no harm in showing you _some _futures, just as long as you keep them a secret."

"Don't worry, I won't tell a soul.", Krystal promised.

"Ok, then. Pick a future and you'll see what and who it affects.", I said as I showed Krystal the Gallery section of Single Player mode in Star Fox Command. As I expected, she picked endings 2, 4 and 9 and she paid as much attention as she could while reading about said futures. The image of seeing her child, Marcus was enough to bring her to tears. It was like she wanted to run right into Fox's arms and marry him right then and there. But she suppressed her happiness and continued seeing the other two endings she picked. Seeing herself as her alter-ego, Kursed made her feel guilty, since it was revealed that Fox wouldn't recognize her if she took that path. And her pain was much worse when she learned it was her idea that ultimately led to Star Wolf's fame and both her and Fox's misery.

"I'm sorry you had to see those two horrible endings, but at least you know what to do in order to stop them from ever happening.", I said as I put a hand on her shoulder in hopes of comforting her.

"Don't worry, Michael. When the time is right, I'll know what to do and when. I promise.", She said as she gave me a short hug in thanks.

Glancing at my clock, I noticed the time was around 9:30. And I was already feeling sleepy. "Wow. It's that late already? I hadn't even noticed.", I said with a yawn.

"You'll need your energy for tomorrow, Michael. If you aren't able to help us, I'll see if I can convince Fox to start your training with ROB until we come back.", Krystal said as she gave me a peck on the cheek and left. Smiling at the thought of possibly having someone like her love me was wonderful. Even though her one true soul mate was Fox, Krystal used her thoughts to tell me that maybe there _was_ a woman like her just waiting for me to find her. I just had to have patience, belief in myself and initiative when the time came. With those final thoughts, I lay my head on the memory foam pillow and fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I woke up at around 6:30 and walked out of my room after putting on my glasses. I didn't hear anything as I made my way past everyone's room on my way to the kitchen and figured that they needed to sleep in, after that annoying dogfight we had with Star Wolf over Katina yesterday. I gathered some fresh, Grade AA eggs, a loaf of white bread, a mixing bowl, a whisk and a large, non-stick cooking pan. I was in the mood for some french toast and a large glass of chocolate milk. Even though I learned everything I knew about preparing food from reading, watching TV and seeing all the many different kinds of foods my mom cooked on the stove, I still had to be careful not to get singed by a leaping drop of cooking oil and I had to make sure every square inch of the food was cooked perfectly, in order to avoid food poisoning or even those worms that might even be in it without anyone even realizing what they'd eat until it was too late. Good thing I paid attention to detail, regardless of what it was like. Even though I was only cooking food for myself, since I was the only person in the kitchen, I left the team several of their own plates on the table as I made my way back to my room to take my medicine, wash my hands and brush my teeth, after I finished my meal and washed the dishes.

I walked over to the lounge to relax and see if there were any kinds of news reports on. I just reached channel 10 with the remote, when I saw the report: 'Risky Chances On Katina' it read.

"This is Sam Garcia, coming to you live from Katina Air Force base, where just yesterday, a new recruit of the Star Fox team engaged in a desperate life-or-death battle over the fates of the many soldiers in need of the supplies being delivered there. According to eyewitnesses, who were hidden at the time, the strange recruit simply charged Panther, without even once thinking about his own safety after reflecting a laser beam that somehow made the capture of Wolf O'Donnell and Leon of Star Wolf much easier. The recruit then made his way to the pilot, as if to plot something. It was soon revealed by the pilot, that he simply needed a Grenade to disrupt the functions that Panther's Wolfen used. Back to you, Rachel.", a male tiger in a navy blue suit with a standard headset and his name in bold white letters said as the screen simply switched to a female collie wearing a red shirt, silver clip-on earrings and a gray bow behind the long hair below her left ear. To her right was an image of me, but I was completely blacked out like a shadow and had a white question mark where my face should be. Underneath my picture were the words 'unknown pilot' written in white.

"Thank you, Sam. When other news reporters arrived on the scene, they were held back by the officials stationed there. The reporters wanted to get an interview of the Samaritan, but Fox McCloud himself denied the requests, saying it was for safety reasons and he was undergoing oxygen recovery. However, he and Bill Grey, the leader in charge of the units trained on Katina allowed us to view a recording of him, as long as his name and face were completely censored to avoid identity theft and a possible discovery of his galaxy." As soon as she finished speaking, said recording played and I was, like she said, censored. I breathed a sigh of relief, mainly because I didn't want to be recognized easily and I didn't want to face something as terrible as being framed.

"While most citizens might be confused and doubtful of this new pilot, I, for one, think he's OK. This is Rachel Colleen with Cornerian News, Channel 10. We'll get back to you at a later time.", she said as the camera zoomed out and played their theme before a commercial came on. As I turned off the TV, I noticed faint reflections coming from the screen, so I turned around and there were my friends, all dressed up and nowhere to go yet.

"Good morning, everyone. Did you sleep well?", I asked. The team nodded, despite looking just a little bit tired.

"That was a very tasty breakfast you made us, Michael.", Falco admitted, licking both sides of his beak.

"What's it called?", Peppy asked me while cleaning his glasses.

"It's called french toast. The three main ingredients needed to make it are bread, eggs and cooking oil. It's as simple as that."

"Well, anyway, we received word that there's going to be an attack on Fichina's control center. Even though it's received upgrades to every one of its systems, there's still a chance of infiltration through disguise, bribery and technological viruses. We need to be ready and help our friends at any time. Will you come with us?", Fox asked.

"I'm really sorry about this, Fox, but it's impossible for me to go there."

"What? How come?", Slippy asked.

"Most humans can develop certain kinds of adaptations from temperature control, being able to exercise longer, seeing in complete darkness and other things, but stuff like that has varying times depending on what's changing, how and where it's happening as well. If I were to step into those below-freezing temperatures for any number of minutes, even _with _proper protection, I'd die a horrible, painless death. I just can't risk it.", I said with a disappointing frown.

"It's not your fault, Michael. Since you're unable to go on the mission with us, I'll make up for it by having Peppy take you to the training room and ROB set up every simulation we have. It'll make your skills improve until we get back and you can try each one for as much as you like.", Fox said.

"Thank you. Where's ROB right now?", I asked with an eager look on my face.

"He's up on the bridge. Just take the elevator there."

"Thanks. And, Fox, I appreciate the help with those reporters back on Katina. I owe you one."

"Don't mention it. It's the least I could do to help." As we boarded the elevator, I waited until the team exited on the docking bay and I pushed the button that moved to the bridge, where ROB was waiting for me.

"Well, now that you're here, Michael, we can get you started on your training. Please follow us.", Peppy said. I nodded and in about five minutes, I was inside the training room. It had all kinds of features and simulations. Even the weapons looked real. I was just about to grab a Space Dynamics homing launcher, when Peppy stopped me.

"Easy there, Michael. I know you're eager to train, but you can't use the heavy artillery just yet. You need to start with the basics, just like every new recruit."

"Sorry about that. My excitement got the better of me.", I said while scratching the back of my head sheepishly.

"Now then, since you've already been inside your first gunfight, so to speak, we'll start you off with target practice. ROB, activate the target simulation immediately.", Peppy ordered.

"Affirmative. Simulation coming online in T-minus 5 seconds.", ROB said. Five seconds passed and I found myself in a large, seemingly endless room that was like the inside of a computer, or even cyberspace.

"Wow. This is incredible, Peppy.", I spoke in amazement.

"Don't get too distracted, Michael. This is what causes most recruits to fail the time limit stage.", Peppy warned.

"Time limit stage? Why didn't you tell me that _before _starting the training?", I yelled.

"You didn't ask us, Michael.", Peppy said. Even though I couldn't see him, I was able to hear him.

"OK, then. What's my current objective?", I asked.

"Your objective is to shoot as many targets as you can while reaching the end of the stage within five minutes. Bonus points are received for every ten targets shot in a row. However, the combo will end if you take damage, even though you won't die and you'll have to start over. You have five minutes on the clock, starting now.", ROB said. I heard a whirring sound in front of me and saw the entire obstacle course materialize in a matter of seconds. It had many different things to shoot, varying from balloons and enemy units to targets. I also noticed several traps that were in the path to the goal about 10 meters in front of me, like trapdoors, pressure sensors and turrets mounted from the floor all the way to the ceiling. I had my blaster armed and ready. With a single, deep breath, I started the challenge.

_Meanwhile at Fichina... _"OK, team, we need to draw those creeps away from the center. Even if they manage to hack into the towers that control the shield, we can't let them reach the console from the outside or roof. Falco, you provide air cover, while Slippy patrols around the center. Krystal and me will move around the towers and come back. Check in any time you see anything out of the ordinary and stay on guard. We can't risk this planet becoming barren again.", Fox ordered.

"Yes, sir!", the team replied.

"Alright Krystal, let's move out and check the first tower.", Fox said pointing to the one on the southwest side of his radar.

"Lead the way, Fox.", Krystal said as she rode on the back of Fox's Landmaster. Although Fox didn't like the idea of letting Krystal be in the cold like that, she didn't even mind. Her own kind was used to the cold and her temperature wouldn't drop by even a tenth of a degree, no matter how long she was in it. She quickly picked up some thought patterns near the tower and started a telepathic conversation with Fox.

"_Fox, is there any kind of enemy readings on your radar right now?"_, she asked.

"_No. Why? Do you sense anyone out there?"_

"_Yes. I'm picking up about 15 soldiers around the first tower and they're trying to deactivate its power supply." _

"_What are their coordinates? Maybe I can fire some warning shots then we can pick them off with our blasters set to stun mode."_

"_Let's see... they're about 25 feet ahead of us and they have radar jamming technology inside their coats. One shot should get their attention."_, Krystal thought.

"_OK, then. Let's lay low and sneak up on them." _Fox started to make his way toward the first tower, but maintaining such a slow speed on the Landmaster wasn't easy. Even if the team's vehicles were to be equipped with a silent running mode, they'd still be spotted if their enemies' senses were strong enough to notice any danger. When they were at least ten feet away, Fox carefully aimed the cannon at the feet of the group of saboteurs and fired a concentrated beam of bright blue energy while making sure Krystal wasn't on board when he did. Upon hearing the noise, a brown wolf looked up in time to see what made it and dodged out of the way, without even trying to warn his partners. Several bodies went flying in different directions, but the thick amount of snow cushioned their fall and they sprung back up, with only a few patches of snow all over the fronts of their bodies.

"Quick, send a warning to the other towers! We have to hurry, or else we're in for a long time in prison at Corneria.", another wolf said to a seal that was trying to throw a set of remote detonated mines on the power supply about ten or twelve feet above his full height.

"Grr. Fine, I'll get right on it, sir.", the seal barked back. He frantically ran his fingers over the keyboard buttons that materialized in front of him, but Krystal fired a shot at the back of his head, instantly knocking him out before he could even reach the 'send' option on his screen. She then proceeded to short out his communicator for good measure. When all of the troops were out cold and bound together in reinforced handcuffs, Fox activated his communicator to talk with Falco and Slippy.

"Falco, Slippy, we've secured the first shield generator and captured all the enemies around it. Both of you need to reach the other towers and continue from there, since you're closer than we are. If you can't pick up any foes on your radars, it's because they have radar jamming devices in their clothes. Be sure to short them out and disable any communications they have, so they can't warn the others. We'll regroup when all of the towers are safe and our targets have been rounded up."

"OK, I'm heading to the second tower.", Falco said as he activated his boosters.

"I'll take the third one. No sense in letting my scientific talents go to waste doing nothing.", Slippy said as he turned and drove over to his destination.

_Meanwhile, at the second tower... _"Sir, we've lost contact with Beta team at the first tower. Should we send a scout over to investigate?" a raccoon asked his commanding officer while standing at attention.

The snow white tiger simply took a few short breaths, each time staring at the carbon dioxide becoming visible due to a physical change induced by the current temperature in the atmosphere. "No. Each team we selected for this job has their own tech support. If any of them needed help, they'd have used a flare by now."

"Very well. I'll get to work on setting the charges, then.", the raccoon said.

"See that you do. And if you mess this up, next time it won't be your tail that nearly got crushed. Understand?", the tiger growled, not even bothering to turn in order to see the frightened animal's knees knocking against each other like castanets.

"Y-yes, sir. I'll get started immediately.", he said and ran off without another word. The tiger simply chuckled to himself in a pleased way. Anybody who dared to defy his orders once would be harshly punished and those who did so a second time would see no mercy, whatsoever.

Falco just landed a few meters away from the tower, making sure the cliffs would give the blue areas of his Arwing perfect camouflage from enemies who would stumble upon it as they were on patrol. _"I can't use the homing launcher because the instant I feel the recoil, my targets will be on me like moths to a flame. I'll have to use the stun rounds in my sniper rifle instead."_, Falco thought. He went into a crouching position from a nearby bridge and he took carefully aimed shots at each of his targets' heads or hearts. Even if just one of the targets was knocked out at a time, another of their companions would simply guess the stress from the job was getting to them. They seemed to be acting stranger than normal. When Falco knocked out the last animal as he was about to reach the remote detonator, he opened a channel to Fox and Slippy.

"I've knocked out the goons at the second tower. They plan to blow up the power supplies with remote mines and I have no way of safely removing them.", Falco said as he started searching the unconscious bodies to destroy the radar jammers each of them carried.

"We can't let them try that. Slippy, think you can find out if the remotes are defective, or maybe find a way to short them out?", Fox asked.

"I'll give it a shot. Tell me what kinds of range and models the mines and remotes are and I'll get to work."

"Let's see. Um, the mines are round, about the size of your fist, silver-colored and they blink red. The remote's black, cylindrical and has a red button.", Falco said as he found the items in a crate a snow leopard had lying next to him.

"I know that type of bomb. When I confiscate the remote that last team has, I'll analyze it to see if it can be sabotaged or not.", Slippy said as he drove over to the last tower in his Landmaster. It took him less than a minute to get there using constant boosting, but he also had to be careful not to give his position away and cause the other group to detonate the mines, even though the shield generators were completely indestructible from top to bottom.

"Grr. What's taking the others so long? This job should have been finished two minutes ago.", a bear with 3 claw scars running across the entire length of his face from the left eyebrow to the right side of his chin said as he stomped across the deep snow, trying to keep himself warm.

"For some reason, we're not getting any signal from their communicators. The temperature must be causing interference of some kind.", another snow leopard said as he checked his communicator for the other teams' signals.

It wasn't _really _the cold affecting the communicators, no one on that team was even aware that their partners were already thwarted by the other members of Star Fox. And Slippy was already upon them. With careful aim, he fired a shot from the Landmaster making the other animals aware of his presence.

"Oh, no. That's one of Star Fox's vehicles! Quick, detonate the mines immediately! The rest of you, open fire!", the bear yelled.

"Yes, sir!", the troops yelled as they revealed machine guns and fired everything they had at Slippy. Slippy knew this kind of attack on him would take much more firepower than this to destroy the Landmaster, but it was nothing to get overconfident about. If these people succeeded with their plan, there was no telling what kind of evil they could unleash on the Lylat system. The snow leopard held the detonator in his hand and mashed the trigger with his thumb... but nothing happened.

"_Phew. It looks like the remotes are defective after all. But that doesn't mean these villains won't find another way to activate them. I've got to act fast."_, Slippy thought.

"The detonator's not working!", the snow leopard yelled, trying to make the explosions happen, but no matter how many times the button was pressed, not a single mine would go off.

"Then shoot them, instead! If we don't make this planet void of all life, we'll never get paid!" the bear yelled as he tried swiping at Slippy with his sharp claws. While Slippy didn't like having to use overkill on his enemies, he also had to defend himself in these kinds of situations. Taking out a grenade, he waited for three seconds and threw it into the remaining mines that weren't attached to the tower's power supply. The resulting explosion killed some of the soldiers, but he was still outnumbered five to one. The rest of the soldiers and the bear, took dead aim at the mine on the tower and fired at the exact same time. The explosion was pretty loud for its small size, but the damage had been done. The power supply was still intact, but barely rotating and had a large crack along the center of it. Their plan failed after all. With an enraged roar, the bear and his followers tried attacking Slippy again, but he had his blaster set to stun mode and made quick work of them in no time at all.

"This is Slippy. I've destroyed the mines they were deploying here, but not without cost. The power supply here is almost completely destroyed, but it should be able to be repaired. Most of the soldiers here are dead, while I knocked out the others. I'm proceeding to round them up, now.", Slippy said.

"Great work, Slippy. Krystal senses the one behind all this near the second tower. We'll rendezvous there to capture him and bring him in for questioning. We need to get going, now.", Fox ordered.

"On my way, Fox!", Falco said as he checked his ammo and hid near his Arwing.

"I'll be there soon, Fox! I'm just going to confiscate these radar jammers for study.",Slippy said. About three minutes later, the team was positioned at different angles, each one leaving the main boss with very few options.

"So, you've managed to stop my troops and even protect the towers. I must congratulate your achievement, but you'll never stop my plans. And I'm not giving up without a fight!", the tiger said as he revealed his claws and wrestled with Falco over his sniper rifle. Falco tried to knock his opponent out by slamming the back of his weapon into his face, but the tiger was too strong. Slippy tried using his machine gun, but the tiger used a sweep kick to knock Slippy flat on his back, take his gun and throw it away. Falco tried using some martial arts he knew, but eventually, he was beaten and had two of his lower ribs cracked. Enraged by what they saw, Fox and Krystal teamed up to fend off this foe, while Slippy helped Falco get back on his feet. The fight was fierce, but they finally won in the end and had the tiger trapped in handcuffs and taken away by a Cornerian escort.

"Thank goodness _that's_ over, but I could seriously use a doctor right now. We've got to get back to the Great Fox so ROB can evaluate the damage and fix it.", Falco said as he painfully put his arms on his stomach, where the pain from his ribs was most intense.

"Understood. Get back to your vehicles, everyone.", Fox ordered. About ten minutes later, ROB analyzed the results of Falco's condition and told everyone the news.

"Falco has severe bruising above the stomach and minor fractures above the large intestine. Estimated time of recovery: three weeks, seven hours, twelve minutes and forty-five seconds. Extreme caution is recommended when attempting to walk, move or fly, as injuries may become worse.", ROB said.

"Oh, great. My favorite way of aiding the team and I have to be careful. This is going to be the worst recovery ever!", Falco groaned.

"Take it easy, Falco. You'll be OK. Look, if it makes you feel any better, I'll personally get back anyone who talks bad about you and dish out twice the tough talk you always use, alright?", I said as I offered to shake his hand.

"Fine. But don't even think you can replace me. You've got skill with a gun, but flying like me is an entirely different matter. Count on it.", Falco said.

"So, Peppy, how did Michael's training go?", Fox asked.

"It went quite well for his first day, but he could use some work on his speed. He kept taking a breather every 50 seconds and he barely passed the time limit stage with only 0.032 seconds left.", Peppy answered.

"That's not bad. At least I didn't get hurt by the obstacles.", I said.

"That may be true, Michael. But it's not something to be taken lightly. The training will only get tougher from here on.", Fox said.

"OK, OK. I get it. I have to give it my best if I want to succeed. I promise that I will, everybody.", I said.

"Now that we've settled that, let's head to Corneria and pick up our check from Bill. I'm sure he and Lucy would like to hear how our job went.", Fox said. As soon as we landed, I heard some mixed chatter among the crowds as we passed them.

"Isn't that the pilot who was on the news this morning?", a golden retriever pup asked his father as he pointed at me.

"Billy, it's impolite to point at others, but yes, that's him.", Billy's father said.

"What is he and why is he here all of a sudden?" a female lion said.

Ignoring the thoughts of the citizens, I met up with Bill and started a conversation, while Krystal finished telling Lucy about her first day on Earth.

"It's nice to finally talk with you in person. If you don't mind me asking, what's your full name and how do you like it here in the Lylat System, partner?", Bill asked.

"The name's Michael Angelo Pena, cowboy. And life around here is as dangerous as a game of poker during a bull-riding contest.", I joked.

"It's great that you helped my best friend when she was in danger. I'll always remember that drawing and galaxy of yours. And as a way of saying thanks, you're welcome to attend one of my classes whenever you like.", Lucy said with a bow.

"Thanks, but I'm not fond of getting sick. As much as I'd love to play in the snow again, I just can't go to Fichina. However, I'm more than welcome to show and tell you what I know about astrology whenever you like.", I said.

"I'd like that a lot. I look forward to seeing you again."

When we got our payment, the team went about their day like they usually did. There was no telling what or where our next mission would be, but I knew it would be exciting. With those final thoughts, I tucked myself in bed and fell asleep.

Author Note: I'm sorry for making you readers wait this long for a new chapter, but please understand that writer's block and procrastination have a constant way of bothering me. I'll try to update sooner, but please have patience. I'm also thinking of ideas for a sequel for this story, as well as a fan-fiction based on the new Pokemon game coming out soon. Until then, keep reading and thanks for your support.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Despite having an incredibly sore pain in my legs, I still found the strength to get up and prepare for the day. I had to prepare for the unexpected and couldn't risk letting my guard down for even a fraction of a second. Grabbing my medicine and a packet of Carnation Instant Breakfast Essentials Rich Chocolate Milk mix, I walked to the kitchen and found the team eating their own meals.

"Hey, Michael, you ready for today's mission?", Slippy asked as he swallowed a piece of toast. Even though it took me about a minute to be wide awake, I needed more energy in my body for it to fully function. I just sighed as I opened a cabinet above the sink and brought out a large glass, which I nearly filled to the brim with whole milk and added the chocolate mix to make my favorite energizing drink. After finishing it in ten gulps, I washed the glass, filled it with a bit of water and took my pill.

"Sorry about ignoring you like that, Slippy. I just needed energy, that's all.", I yawned.

"It's OK, but if you don't mind me asking, what's with those round pills you're taking?", he asked.

"Oh, these? They're a type of medicine called Lexapro. I started taking them because they help me with my stress."

"All the missions we go through every day give us some amount of stress. You don't _really _need to take pills to help you get over it.", Falco said.

"I'm not actually stressed from the missions or training, I'm stressed because of what happened during college.", I said.

"College? What's that?", Krystal asked. Since I knew that Krystal's world didn't have anything like the education Fox, Falco and the others went through growing up, I explained.

"It's sort of like going through learning at the Cornerian Academy. You learn simple things when you're young like how to spell, adding numbers and even playing an instrument. But as you grow older, the lessons and challenges get tougher. Soon enough, you learn how to preform CPR, you learn to solve complex equations and you even need to start building up your muscles. I took this one computer class with some classmates of mine. We were learning how to use computers to help us develop our presentation skills. I handled the first two courses pretty well, but the third was too much for me. It involved using a computer program called Microsoft Office Excel. The program was used to teach us about organizing meetings, keep track of money spent and saved and set important dates ahead of time." I noticed Fox nearly choking on his breakfast at the word 'dates', but Krystal read my mind out of curiosity and explained it wasn't like that.

"Sorry about that. It just caught me by surprise, that's all.", he wheezed.

"Anyway, the work got too difficult for me to handle in between schoolwork and my own life, so I had to drop out, because I couldn't keep up with my friends.", I said sadly. As soon as I finished, I heard a low snickering sound and noticed Falco cupping his beak with both hands. "Something funny, tough guy?", I asked sarcastically.

"Sorry man, but dropping out of school like that? That's hilarious!", he said as he broke out in an uncontrollable laughing fit.

"If you don't stop that, I'll do something so terrible to your body, that it'll haunt you forever.", I said with a menacing glare. The look on my face showed I wasn't kidding and Falco stopped after needing to take a moment to breathe.

"So what's with that powder you mixed with the milk?", Fox asked.

"I drink that because I'm quite fond of chocolate and I read an interesting study my kind discovered, called the chocolate milk diet."

"Chocolate milk diet?", the team asked in wonder.

"That's right. According to the study, drinking chocolate milk is good for you, because it contains less sugar than a energy drink and keeps you active over 40% longer. It's also a great source of vitamins for your teeth and bones."

"Can we try it sometime?", Slippy asked.

"I only have 4 packets left, but I'm sure your technology can clone or even improve it. Just don't say it was your idea or finding that led to this information, because that's a serious crime on my world.", I said. I went back to my room and gave the team the rest of my packets, which they enjoyed.

"OK. Now for today's mission briefing. There's a delayed shipment of money some scientists at Titania were sending to Peppy to continue trying to make it less dangerous and more hospitable for visitors. The shipment was sent late last night and was supposed to arrive at the Cornerian base this morning. Workers at the base have tried establishing contact, but nobody's responding there. We need to head out and find what happened. Think you can help us, Michael?", Fox asked.

"Hmm... I think it's OK for me to join you, but the sandy terrain is very unpredictable. I could be walking on very stable ground one second, then be swept into a sudden tornado the next. Oh well. I'm in. I just need a large helmet and a mask so the sand doesn't get in my eyes or body while I'm exploring."

"Don't worry, Michael. I'll provide constant scans of the area from my Arwing and let everyone know if it's safe or not.", Slippy said.

"OK. Everyone get to your Arwings and prepare to launch. We need to be ready for any kind of ambush or trap.", Fox ordered. Each of us took off in a sprint, but I had to take several seconds to catch my breath when I was a third of the way through the launching bay.

"You OK, Michael? If you want to call it quits, you can. None of us will think any insulting thoughts.", Falco said as he tried not to wince as his injuries sent a short pain inside of him.

"Don't worry about me. It's just a quick breather. Go ahead and launch without me. I'll catch up.", I said. The team nodded and took off, while I made sure I wasn't close enough to any of the Arwings at the same time. My Arwing was prepped and in a matter of seconds, I launched in the same direction. I didn't care if any foe I encountered gave me strange looks before gunning me down or trying to steal my ride, but I had to be cautious anyway. As soon as I was through Titania's sandy atmosphere and three or so feet above the ground, I transformed my Arwing into the Landmaster and activated my cloaking device to make it look like an Operation Desert Storm tank used by the U.S. Army. Quite an effective disguise if not tacky or weird.

"OK. I'm finally here. What are the rendezvous coordinates, Slippy?", I asked.

"They're 52 degrees southwest and 40 yards away. You need to look for a large burned-out construction site surrounded with thick supports that's untouched by any sand."

"I'm heading there now. Any reports on the missing workers yet?"

"There's different footprints everywhere and it looks like there was a large struggle. I sense some survivors in the distance, but whoever took them won't let them live for much longer.", Krystal said with a hint of worry in her voice.

"Falco, you and Krystal find them and capture whoever did this. Me, Michael and Slippy will search this rubble for clues to what happened here. Watch your backs and guard them until we regroup, OK?", Fox said.

"As much as I don't want to aggravate my injuries, I want to start shooting already! Man, this is boring beyond belief.", Falco grumbled as he left his Arwing and started walking with a homing launcher and sniper rifle strapped across both shoulders.

"Falco, you need to learn more self-control of your actions. If you don't, you'll regret it.", Krystal warned as she walked alongside him with a Gatling gun and some grenades.

I was at the building in about 3-5 minutes, then I shut my vehicle down and locked the hatch on my tank while closely crouching over it in case someone was watching me through a pair of binoculars or a rifle scope. "Holy shoot, man. I haven't seen anything this bad since The Great Depression. It's a wonder this place is still standing with this kind of interior.", I gasped.

Fox and Slippy gave me confused looks that said, 'Great Depression?', but I promised I'd tell them later. "Anything your UV light can pick up, Slippy?", I asked as I examined some ash on what was left of a chemistry set. Slippy activated the option from his communicator and shined the deep purple light from floor to ceiling, making sure not to miss even 1% of the room.

"Hmm... There's traces of evaporated metal caused by grenades, a dried blood drop from a camel that got shot by a blaster, fingerprints from a armadillo, faint traces of smoke from a bad chemical mix and our culprits took out anything that could have recorded them.", Slippy said after 3 minutes of scanning.

Author Note: Just so you readers know, the animals I'm describing in this story are based on my knowledge of what's capable of living in each planets' background. If you'd like me to insert different kinds, in case the ones I currently mention bother you, simply ask what kinds you'd like to see and I'll get to work.

"OK. We know what's happened, but we don't know why. Let's contact Falco and Krystal to see how they're holding up.", Fox said.

"Krystal, any thought pattens coming from the bad guys or the hostages?", Falco asked as he and Krystal stopped in front of what was left of a distant camp.

"Yes, there are. And they're coming from the hostages being held beyond those dunes over there.", Krystal said as she pointed northeast.

"Alright, let's get to shooting! I don't want to stand another minute in this dry wasteland.", Falco said as he removed his sniper rifle and took a running stance.

"Falco, don't do that! There's a bunch of snipers hiding in the sand and trying something like that will get you killed. I'll show you where they're hiding, but don't give us away."

"OK, then. Work your magic, girl.", Falco said as he relaxed his mind and let Krystal guide him with her acute telepathy. He fired a shot at a scorpion, but it dodged, even though the shot somehow managed to remove its stinger. The scorpion looked outraged upon losing one of his most lethal weapons, but knew he couldn't do anything about it. He simply left it behind and retreated to his leader to warn her.

_Meanwhile, at a nearby dune... _"My patience is growing thin. Where's the rest of your money?", an angry coyote snarled as she looked through several open briefcases equally filled to the brim on both sides with vast amounts of money.

"That's all we saved, honestly. Please don't kill us.", a hawk with a broken right arm said as he shivered at the angry woman's outburst.

"You're lying. You've got a secret savings stashed away, don't you?", the woman said trying to sound alluring enough to make her hostage's defenses crumble away like a mountain avalanche.

"Don't listen to her, William! If all of our money's gone, all the time and research we've spent here will set us back to square one.", a armadillo said as he struggled to remove the rough rope securely tied in a way that prevented him from curling up into his protective shell.

"Don't speak, Harry. If she takes what's left, there's no telling how long it will take to rebuild our outpost.", William said as he inadvertently moved his broken arm and the resulting pain made him nearly fall out from his chair.

All of a sudden, a brown and yellow scorpion with a missing stinger burst into the room breathing heavily, since the wound he had still caused intense pain. "Captain, our positions have been compromised by a blue vixen and a blue falcon. They're both on their way here to save the hostages. We have to leave right now. UGH...", he said as a shot from a sniper rifle burst right through his chest cavity, killing him before his legs and the rest of his body fell to the floor.

"So, the famous Star Fox team has come to stop us. I've been waiting for a fight against them.", the coyote said as she kicked the body away and reached for both blasters on her hips.

"Falco, untie the hostages and get them to safety. I'll hold off the leader long enough for you to meet Fox and the others.", Krystal said as she reached for her Staff and activated its indestructible force field in a fraction of a second.

"OK, but don't take too long. We still have to rescue any remaining hostages and apprehend the other criminals here.", Falco said as he grabbed Harry's chair with one hand, William's good arm with the other and took off into a jogging pace, taking extreme care not to lengthen the time his ribs needed to recover.

"Falco, Krystal, is everything OK over there? We hear blaster fire coming from behind you.", Fox said over Falco's communicator.

"I'm alright. I've got two of the hostages with me and Krystal's giving us a chance to get away by fighting this coyote girl who's behind all this."

"_Aw, man. Why'd it have to be a woman? I can't hurt any in real-life, because it's a serious felony on Earth and the last thing I need is a criminal record."_, I thought to myself.

"_Michael's chivalrous. That's sweet of him, but I'm sure any other female will use his nobility to their advantage. I must help him later."_, Krystal thought.

"Michael, what's wrong? You look worried about something. Are you feeling well?", Slippy asked.

"I'm fine. I just need to clear my head. Where are the other hostages? Maybe we can split up and find them all faster.", I said.

"If you must know, there's only three of us left. Tomas, Bianca and Richard. The villain who's staging this is planning to rob us of all our hard-earned money, but the only way to access the safe containing the rest of it is through all five of our security cards, eye scans and voice recognitions.", William said.

"OK, we know their names, but what about what they look like, or where they are?", Slippy asked.

"Tomas is a fox with sandy-colored fur, brown eyes and a bit of a hoarse voice from a chemical accident that happened before we were captured. Bianca's a bactrian camel that was trying to escape our captors, but the leader shot her in the leg. Finally, Richard is a horned toad who almost never takes his goggles off his face. He tries to scare anyone who might harm him by crying tears of blood, but if he doesn't cooperate, blood will be coming from more than just his eyes.", Harry said.

"I'd help untie you, Harry, but this broken arm of mine has left me unable to write, let alone untie you.", William said looking at him.

"Leave that to me. I'll help you out!", Falco said as he crouched a bit to untie the tightest-looking knot that was keeping Harry's arms behind his back. Although Falco tried moving as little as possible, staying in one spot for too long was dangerous and caused you to fall asleep because of the lack of movement.

"Thanks. Now then, here's how you can find the rest of our colleagues.", Harry said after massaging the pain away from his wrists and typing some information into Falco's communicator. A few seconds later, it emitted a steady beeping sound like a sonar and showed three bright red dots fairly close to each other.

"You guys getting this?", Falco asked as he sent the data to our group.

"Roger that. Judging by the distances of these dots, I'd say that's where we'll find the captives, maybe even whoever took them.", I said as I looked at the information on my communicator screen.

"OK. Slippy, you go and rescue Bianca, Michael, you head over to help Tomas and I'll go rescue Richard. If there's any problems, report to us and we'll see what we can do to help.", Fox ordered.

"Yes, sir!", me and Slippy responded. I went back into my tank and headed southeast, where my rescue operation was to take place. I knew I had to keep my cool against all odds. I just hoped all of the kidnappers weren't female. Soon enough, I stopped about five yards away and slowly made my way to reach Tomas on foot. As I was on the outside of a small supply building, I heard faint voices coming from the other side of a wall.

"Come on, Bryce. Isn't there any other food to find? I mean, a planet like this needs more food than just canned peas, soup, bottled water and corn bread.", a male said as he angrily knocked his hand on a stack of soup cans, sending them all crashing to the floor and some of them leaked out the water and food they held inside.

"I don't like the looks as much either, but it's all there is in this place.", Bryce said.

"Hey. Shut up, you two. Do you want the boss to kill us for making her wait over a stupid meal?", a female said.

"No, ma'am. We're sorry.", Bryce responded.

"Yeah. I was just annoyed at the thought of eating this slop, that's all.", the first male said.

"Good, you'd better be, Carl. Anyway, my guard shift's already over. It's your turn to keep an eye on our 'friend' back there.", the female sneered.

"OK, OK. Don't get your pants in a knot. I'm heading over there, May.", Carl grumbled under his breath.

"What was that?", May shouted.

'N-Nothing.", Carl said.

"Hurry up, already! I've wasted enough time listening to that nerd babbling about his family."

I'd heard all that I needed to hear. I just had to be careful about how I acted. I slowly made my way past the wall, making sure not to pass in front of any windows or security cameras I came across. The front door was much too obvious to use, so I found my way in through the back. Since the building wasn't big enough to need pass codes, I made my search through the kitchen very brief. Suddenly, I heard footsteps coming from the ceiling above me and figured that's where Carl was working on his shift. I would've made made my way through the ventilation, if it weren't for the fact that I was too heavy and the noise caused by my weight would definitely warn the guards to my presence, so I quietly climbed the stairs instead. I heard faint muttering accompanied by what sounded like whimpering.

"Shut up, already! Jeez. You're as worse as May when she's trying to get her hair and face ready.", Carl said from behind a metal door on my left, about three feet away. I couldn't just walk up to the door and let Carl see me right in front of him, so I sat down and waited quietly. My patience soon paid off, as I saw the time was about 12:35 P.M. and it sounded like he'd fallen asleep on the job. I walked up to the door and cringed as it noisily hissed open and moved up through a wide hole in the ceiling, but Carl simply mumbled something and continued to sleep.

"Who or what are you?", Tomas asked me as I helped pull himself onto his feet.

"Shh. Listen, your friends Harry and William told me how to find you through the communicator on my wrist. As for my name and kind, we'll get back to that some other time. Right now, I have to get you out of here. Is your security card and voice okay?", I asked after putting my index finger to shush his lips. Tomas looked confused about how I knew so much, but realized I was with the Star Fox team and nodded yes in relief. "Good. Now listen, there's no telling how long that guy's going to stay asleep or even if his friends are coming to change shifts again. All I know is that we have to get out of here fast, or we're _both _in the fire. Anything we can use to disguise ourselves, or even cover our tracks?", I asked.

"Sorry. If I'd known this was going to happen, I would have my cloaking device ready and waiting in the blink of an eye.", Tomas said with a look that showed a lot of regret from not planning ahead.

"Hey, don't beat yourself up over this. It'll be okay. We just need to get into my tank outside and we're home free. Think you can handle a half-story fall?", I asked pointing to a small window in the corner.

"Sure. Let's go for it!", Tomas accidentally shouted, causing Carl to wake up and look around in a daze. By the time he was wide-awake, me and Tomas were safely on the ground and running to my tank.

"Hey, get back here with our prize! We caught him fair and square!", Carl yelled, nearly halfway out from the window.

"You snooze, you lose, sucker! We're out of here!", I yelled as I shut the hatch, locked it tight and drove away with a smug grin.

"Hey, what's with all the yelling and what happened to that scientist you were supposed to be guarding?", May yelled as she and Bryce burst into the room.

"Some weird thing broke in here and left with the guy as I was waking up from a nap.", Carl said with an arm pointing to the window.

"Don't just stand there, idiots! Get them and bring them both alive! If we don't have all the scientists captured, we'll never get our share. So, get to moving!", May shouted, almost shoving Carl out the window, before taking off into a sprint down the stairs and out the door.

"Hey, it's me, Michael. I got Tomas with me and we're heading back to meet up with you. How did things go on your ends, Fox and Slippy?", I asked opening up a channel to each of my friends.

"I got a minor bruise on my shoulder and a few scratches from this crazed cheetah, but I'm OK and so's Bianca, despite the fact that her leg's making it difficult to walk.", Slippy said. I heard Tomas breathe a sigh of relief.

"I rescued Richard after dealing with this bunch of knife-wielding thugs that didn't even stand a chance of beating me. I knocked each of them out in ten seconds and didn't even break a sweat.", Fox said.

"Krystal, is everything fine on your end?", I asked.

"Don't worry. I'm unharmed and I caught the leader. I'm already here with everyone else waiting for you to arrive, Michael.", she answered.

"Alright, then. I'm heading over and should be there in about two minutes. Think you can lend me a hand with capturing this girl that's leading the group behind me? I wouldn't feel right harming a woman, even if she was my enemy.", I said looking out from the nearby sonar on my right.

"No problem, Michael. I'll be right there.", she said as she gave her empty Gatling gun to Fox and ran in my direction. It didn't take long for either of us to cross paths and just as I was about to help Tomas get out of my seat, Krystal suddenly pulled me out of the way of a blaster shot and growled angrily at a female civet cat that was trying to gun me down for trying to escape.

"I don't care if you _are_ the most legendary team in the Lylat System! You'll hand over that scientist, or else, die where you stand.", May growled, showing her sharp fangs.

"Fine. There's no point in trying to harm a female without getting a record.", I sighed, slowly putting both my arms up. However, before Carl could finish wrapping his dirty fingers around my blaster, I activated my reflector and the shock that coursed through his body gave me enough time to barely climb on his back and start pounding my fists on him as much as I could. Krystal nimbly went after May and used some cover caused by tossing two grenades into the sand to disarm and capture her in a matter of seconds.

Seeing both of his comrades out cold in front of him, Bryce took off away from us, but I fired a quick stun blast at his back and he fell to the ground.

"That's all of them. Let's round 'em up and head back to the team. I'm sure Fox is worried about us.", I said. Krystal giggled in reply and helped me out by securing the captured thugs onto my tank. A few minutes later, we were back with the rest of the team and our mission was a success.

"Great work out there, everyone. Especially you, Michael. You showed admirable traits out there and didn't even feel bothered by what was happening around you. It takes a lot of stuff to do what you did and I'm glad to have you on our side.", Fox said.

"Aw, it was nothing. But if you don't mind me asking, shouldn't we be helping our friends here with their pay? It still needs to go to Corneria, you know.", I said pointing a thumb at the group of scientists around us.

"Don't worry, we can handle it. Besides, the faster we finish up here, the sooner we can get back to our families.", Tomas said as he and his friends began walking to another part of the desert, where the safe was waiting. About ten minutes later, each of them carried about two or three large bags of money under both of their arms and began stowing them inside the Great Fox's cargo bay.

The ride back to Corneria was somewhat pleasant, if not annoying. The loud wails coming from the prisoners was total eardrum-busting torture. Even a simple trip down to the docking bay was painful, if you happened to walk there. I was constantly being bombarded by many questions each of the scientists had for me, but I answered them and with Fox's approval, showed them about life in my galaxy through Krystal's unmatched telepathy. The scientists each scribbled what they could into small notepads they carried and asked my permission to share this information with the rest of their colleagues throughout the galaxy. I allowed it, provided they didn't breathe a word to anyone public, lest a war broke out that could bring the end of my planet and all its occupants. They all promised and continued writing what they could.

"Is that all you needed to know?", I asked.

"Well, all this info is quite shocking, to say the least. None of us had even come close to finding an entire galaxy so similar to ours, let alone a being like you.", Tomas said.

"OK. Anyway, we're entering Corneria's atmosphere already. Better stay buckled up.", I warned.

"Attention all on board passengers, Cornerian atmosphere successfully exited with minimal corrosion on hull. Estimated time for landing: two hours, fifty-one minutes and thirty-nine seconds. Please remain stationary until the designated time has passed.", ROB said over the intercoms. We followed his instructions and soon, everyone was safe and sound on the cement below our feet.

A bunch of Cornerian soldiers escorted the prisoners to be sent to their proper cells after going throughout all the basics; fingerprint stamping, front-to-side photo shooting and being measured for their uniforms. Needless to say, none of the prisoners liked it. And waiting for their bail or determined sentences was even worse.

"_Next time, this won't be as easy for you, freak. When I get out of here, I'll hunt you down and shoot you into very tiny pieces, whether you're guarded or not."_, Carl thought as he tried to look at my face. Krystal sensed his thoughts and sent a message to the guards escorting him. They nodded and made sure to add 'witness assault' to Carl's account of crimes.

All of a sudden, a bunch of news reporters were all over us, like honey bees to a hive and I tried my hardest not to get noticed, but soon, a familiar voice rang out from the crowd and I realized I had no chance at avoiding the paparazzi once they saw me. "Hey, isn't that Star Fox's new recruit?", Rachel asked, trying to make her way towards me with a microphone.

"_Oh, man. I don't want to be interviewed right now in front of so many people. It's much too soon for this kind of thing."_, I thought to myself as I made a break for my tank, which was currently the only safe haven I could find until the reporters settled down.

"_What are you getting so nervous about, anyway? It's just a bunch of people wanting to meet you."_, my conscious said.

"_Hey, this isn't going to be as simple as getting a diploma along with the rest of your friends at your high school graduation. This is much more and I don't think I can keep my cool this time."_, I answered back.

"_Come on, man. You're a part of the coolest team in the known universe. It's only fair that you be nice to the public, like they are."_

"_Sigh... Fine, but I'm not answering any personal questions, OK?"_

"_Don't worry. I'll help you get through it."_ I made my way outside, dusted off my clothes and regained my composure at the sight of the seemingly endless crowd in front of me.

"Ahem. Um, sorry about that. I just don't want to be part of the Star Fox team for fame or money. I'm just in it for the adventure and memories.", I said to the first reporter on my right, who happened to be Rachel from earlier.

"It's perfectly understandable. Now if you don't mind, would you start answering our many questions about you?", she said, practically shoving her microphone into my face.

"I will. Just don't use flash photography or ask any personal questions. I'm very sensitive about these kinds of things.", I said, trying to cover my eyes from the onslaught of light bulbs coming and going with each passing second. The crowd got the message and respected my wishes on the spot. "Now then, ask away."

_1-2 hours later..._ "Man, I don't know how each of you manage to handle all of that. I'm _really_ going to try not bringing any attention to myself.", I sighed as I sat down in a chair and started rubbing my eyes.

"Yeah, the life of being a superstar _can _be stressful, but it can bring good things into your life.", Falco said as he leaned back into his favorite relaxing position.

"Oh, like what?", I asked jokingly.

"You can get discounts on many things like clothes, accessories, food and other things everyone else buys. The only difference is the money you save, courtesy of the people you know as friends or even family.", Slippy said.

"OK. It's getting close to 4:00. Anyone else want something to eat?", I asked. Everyone's stomachs seemed to growl at the same time. "Well, better get started on that food. Time waits for no one.", I said.

Even though me and Krystal were really great chefs, I didn't want Fox thinking the wrong thing about us. I knew they loved each other, but if Fox was trying to get something off his back, I'd help him slowly and carefully. Fox was watching each of my movements very intently, as if he was thinking I'd steal the most important person in his life when he'd least expect it. "Is something wrong, Fox? If you want to talk about what's on your mind, you're welcome to join me in my room.", I said.

"Maybe later. I've got to satisfy my appetite.", Fox said almost deadpan.

"Alright, then. See you.", I said taking my lunch to my room. It consisted of a grilled cheese sandwich, a granola bar and some water. I felt like having a small meal, even though I must have used up a lot of energy back on Titania. When I was finished, I needed to relive the adrenaline rush I felt, despite the moderate climate. I opened up my closet and kept it propped open with my bag of snacks. I activated the light switch and looked at my shadow from the left side of the wall. Then I bent my knees a bit, made tight fists and began throwing an intense volley of punches, blocks and dodges, while making sure my shadow followed my movements perfectly. I was shadowboxing and it felt great. To make my exercise more interesting, I imagined myself fighting against the cast of Punch-Out for the Nintendo Wii. Sure, it sounded strange, but it was a great way to pass the time.

About 15 minutes later, I had just finished pretending I won the match against that tough, muscle-bound Soda Popinski. "Phew, that match was exhausting. I sure hope the other fights won't take as long.", I panted.

"What 'other fights'?", a voice asked as I was tapped on my right shoulder. I turned around to find Fox staring at me with his arms crossed defensively and a somewhat serious look on his face.

"Oh. Hey, Fox. I didn't hear you enter. I must have gotten too caught up in my exercising.", I admitted with a goofy laugh.

"Hmm. Anyway, you seem to be enjoying your stay here. All the adventure, memories, experiences. It must mean a lot to you, doesn't it?", Fox asked.

"Yeah, but what about it? Is everything OK?", I asked. What happened next wasn't really worth experiencing. Fox suddenly grabbed me by the throat, beneath the Adam's Apple and slowly tightened his grip, each second appearing to come and go much slower.

"Hey, what's going on? I'm not trying to be your enemy.", I struggled to breathe while futile attempts to free myself kept failing.

"Now you listen up and listen good. I don't _ever_ want you even a single millimeter near Krystal. If you try it again, I'll break your jaw beyond recovery and make both of your eyes black.", Fox growled menacingly as he seemed to revel the fear building in my eyes. I knew that trying to talk while being choked was stupid, but I was desperate enough to try something I hoped would get through to Fox, if only somewhat.

"Jkef. Fcoujo, ted'k xihk mo, Fox!", I pleaded. Upon hearing that language, Fox's eyes widened instantly and he let go of my pained throat. _"Thank goodness that worked."_, I thought as I rubbed my sore throat, trying to get the pain to stop. Almost at once, Krystal ran into my room and began shouting her lungs out right into Fox's face.

"Fox, what were you even _thinking_, trying to do something like that?", Krystal asked as she helped me to my feet and looked at the reddish-pink marks on my neck, from where Fox choked me. "He spends at least five minutes alone with me on a mission and this is how you react? That's not how a leader acts, Fox!", Krystal yelled as tears came into her eyes.

"Hey, Krystal, it's not his fault. It's mine. If anything, I should be the one who's punished, not Fox.", I said.

"But...", Krystal started.

"No, not another word. If it makes you feel any better, Fox, I'll resign from the team if it means making you happy."

"Michael...", Krystal whined. I could tell neither of them were taking this well, but if my being here would cause problems, I'll gladly leave without a second thought. I started gathering my things, when suddenly, I felt weak and dizzy. I'd seen this kind of thing dozens of times in point-of-view movies and cartoons, but this was still a strange feeling as it enveloped me. My world slowly faded to darkness and I fainted.

Well, that's that. I'm sorry if this chapter didn't quite turn out like you readers expected, but hey. This is my kind of writing, OK? I'm also sorry I couldn't update in March, like I wanted to, but I was too distracted by reading other fanfictions over the past few days. I'll try to be faster, but I can't guarantee it'll happen. Just please have patience. See you soon.


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